Matching Items (6)
Filtering by
- Creators: School of Life Sciences
Description
Knowing that disorder is related to crime, it has become essential for criminologists to understand how and why certain individuals perceive disorder. Using data from the Perceptions of Neighborhood Disorder and Interpersonal Conflict Project, this study uses a fixed photograph of a neighborhood, to assess whether individuals "see" disorder cues. A final sample size of n=815 respondents were asked to indicate if they saw particular disorder cues in the photograph. The results show that certain personal characteristics do predict whether an individual sees disorder. Because of the experimental design, results are a product of the individual's personal characteristics, not of the respondent's neighborhood. These findings suggest that the perception of disorder is not as clear cut as once thought. Future research should explore what about these personal characteristics foster the perception of disorder when it is not present, as well as, how to fight disorder in neighborhoods when perception plays such a substantial role.
ContributorsScott, Christopher (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis advisor) / Katz, Charles (Committee member) / Ready, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The transition from high school to college is, for many, a drastic change in lifestyle, social networks, and dietary choices. The prevalence of obesity in college students has been steadily increasing. Freshmen weight gains have been associated with a decrease in fruits and vegetables and an increase in unhealthy items such as desserts, alcohol, and late night snacking after dinner. A survey of college students was constructed to gauge students' perceptions of nutrition how these perceptions influenced dietary practices and behaviors. Survey results indicated that awareness of nutrition and health does not translate to dietary practices, aligning with results from previous studies. Several sex differences were noted in regards to dietary choices and perceptions, knowledge seeking behavior, and sources of information. While there were some similarities, it is clear from the results obtained that men and women have different approaches and thoughts with regard to nutrition. The results showed that college students who actively seek our nutritional information are more likely to do so in the form of social media or Internet sources. This study could be useful for those planning on conducting college-based nutritional programs in that the results indicate patterns and trends that should be taken into consideration in order for a successful nutrition intervention
ContributorsKeahon, Gabriela Estrada (Author) / Jehn, Megan (Thesis director) / Williams, Deborah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Civil litigation and medical malpractice both seem to be plagued by similar misperceptions. The general public, lawyers, physicians and our elected officials are all in considerable error regarding the reality behind civil litigation. The perception is that there are an increasing number of claims filed, and that in those cases that are filed the plaintiff is likely to win and be awarded a large sum of money. Regarding medical malpractice, in particular, is the belief that such litigation increases the over-all costs of healthcare by a significant dollar amount through the costs of litigation as well as the increasing instances of defensive medicine. Physicians further state that it is the absurd awards all too common in medical malpractice cases that are to blame for the out of control increases seen in medical malpractice premiums. These increases in premiums are said to have forced a large number of physicians out of practice that will hurt the general public's access to health care. These perceptions are at least reinforced by the media coverage that reports on the rare multimillion-dollar cases and from reports by insurance companies and physicians, in their attempt to lower their business costs by decreasing medical malpractice insurance premiums. By understanding the prevalence of such misperceptions, the truth behind the claims, and how such misinformation reaches the public and has spread to all levels of society, empirical data must be presented to the public in order to overcome the misperceptions.
ContributorsKohl, Mitchell Anthony (Author) / Robert, Jason (Thesis director) / Maienschein, Jane (Committee member) / Mossman, Kenneth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Globally, many species of shark are facing rapid population decline. This is due to increasing fishing pressures, primarily from the booming demand in China for shark fins for soup. In recent years there has also been an increase in international shark conservation efforts, but there is still a long way to go in gathering support for those efforts. Public perception of sharks in America has been greatly influenced by negative media representations of them, Jaws being one of the most influential. Many of these representations are based on inaccurate information that has been disproven by science, but still lingers in popular culture. Symbolic Interactionism Theory proved to be a useful framework for unpacking the connections between public perception, mainstream culture and media, and conservation regarding sharks. A social psychological theory, Symbolic Interactionism describes the ways that people construct meaning about a topic through direct and indirect interactions, and how this meaning can change on individual, social, and cultural levels. By changing the way sharks are perceived and represented to the public, these important and incredible animals may gather the support they need to continue living in the world's oceans.
ContributorsCressler, Christina Nancy (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The development of safe and effective vaccines has been one of the greatest public achievements of the 20th century. However, there is still considerable public debate about the relative health costs and benefits of vaccines, and the information and misinformation spread through these debates can have a direct impact on vaccination and whether or not herd immunity will continue in the United States for different diseases. To understand perceptions of vaccine risks and effectiveness among young adults in the U.S., this study describes Arizona State University students' perceptions of the harms and benefits of vaccines. A preliminary free list (n=30) identified what vaccines ASU college students were most likely to recall spontaneously. The six vaccines most commonly mentioned by ASU students were: influenza (flu), chickenpox, HPV, polio, MMR, and smallpox. Using these top six vaccines, we then developed a second survey about the knowledge and perceptions of each of these vaccines and vaccines as a whole. We found that students generally perceived vaccines as safe and important to their health, but they maintained an overall lack of understanding of how vaccines work and what they protect against. While this study is only a preliminary investigation into the perceptions of ASU college students on six commonly mentioned vaccines, this could lead to investigations on how to educate and promote the usage of vaccines to college students.
ContributorsGilson, Jacob (Co-author) / Sutton, Carly (Co-author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Ruth, Alissa (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
There is a serious need for high quality early childhood programming in the state of Arizona. More than half of children under the age of six are living below the poverty line, and Arizona is ranked 47th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in education (Tirozzi, 2014). The Scottsdale Public Library (SPL) system is fighting to combat this issue by providing free, interactive parent-child classes that are aligned with the Arizona Early Learning Standards in order to support school readiness; additionally, these programs are also aligned with the Arizona School Readiness Framework. This thesis project focuses on the Fun with Math & Science (FMS) program, one of three Knowing and Growing programs, implemented across six Scottsdale Public Library locations. This program is an extremely interactive, parent-child class that aims to improve children's basic science and math skills. The purpose of this study is to understand the population of families attending FMS at SPL, as well as parent perceptions of the programming and its impact on their family. This study also focuses on a subset of families who participated in this research at two of the give Scottsdale Public Libraries. Interviews with parents were conducted and provide insightful information about parent and child experiences participating in the program at the library.
ContributorsRidley, Wendy Justine (Author) / Taylor, Michelle (Thesis director) / Pratt, Megan (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05