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- Genre: Academic theses
Description
The problem of the study was to investigate constraints and facilitators of Mexican American parents when deciding whether or not to enroll their children in formal swim lessons as a means of drowning prevention. The information obtained by this study (1) helps create awareness about youth drowning incidents and (2) provides insight about Mexican American perspectives and behaviors toward drowning prevention through, or not through as the case may be, youth formal swim lesson participation. This study's sample was purposively selected using typical case and snowball sampling techniques. Individual interviews were conducted with Mexican American parent participants and focus group interviews were conducted with aquatic personnel. From April to August, individual and focus group interviews were conducted in the border towns Sierra Vista, Bisbee, and Douglas in the state of Arizona. There were a total of 25 Mexican American parent participants: 10 had never enrolled their children in swim lessons and 15 had experience enrolling and observing their children in swim lessons. There were 3 focus groups interviews of aquatic personnel experts: Sierra Vista had 6, Bisbee had 7 and Douglas had 9 participants. The theory used to identify and classify the types of constraints and facilitators described in the findings of this study was the Leisure Constraints Theory proposed by Crawford, Jackson and Godbey, 1991. Finding from this study suggest that despite the uncommon perception, Mexican Americans youth are actually participating more in formal swim lessons than they have in past generations. Mexican American families in this sample reported major constraints for formal swim lessons as a reliance on learning form family and friends, swimming at private pools, money, time, and transportation as barriers to participation. Facilitators for Mexican American youth to participate in formal swim lessons are youth drowning awareness, education, lack of parental swimming ability, generational social norm behavior changes, financial assistance and an attitude shift in favor of formal swim lessons.
ContributorsMurphy, Megan Kay (Author) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Thesis advisor) / Zayas, Luis (Committee member) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation examines the role that business counselors in a public entrepreneurial development program play in improving the Entrepreneurial Specific Human Capital (ESHC) of nascent and active entrepreneurs. Through multiple research methodologies, this study identifies the types of ESHC provided by business counselors then compares them to the types of ESHC commonly accepted as necessary for entrepreneurial success. The comparison reveals a number of insights for policy and research, most notably a minimum portfolio of skills necessary for entrepreneurial success. This study also examines the methods counselors use to help entrepreneurs acquire higher levels of ESHC. These methods allow counselors to assist entrepreneurs in recognizing and overcoming common barriers to business growth, and a model of entrepreneurial business growth barriers has been produced which depicts these barriers as conceptual-operational transition points for the entrepreneur. Additionally, this dissertation develops important information about the use of the business plan in entrepreneurial development, and uncovers a number of moderators in the relationship between the use of the business plan and entrepreneurial success. Finally, the study produces detailed information about ESHC which has potential for scale development, and highlights a number of insights for policy and research that have not been identified previously.
ContributorsDahlstrom, Timothy R (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey I. (Thesis advisor) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In order to be competitive in the hotel market, more and more hotels have proposed various types of "wow" services to inform customers' impressions of the hotel in a positive way. Many customers consider these services excellent, and they often exceed their expectations. However, some "wow" services only generate the effect of amazement instead of meeting customers' needs and wants. Applying the notion of the Zone of Tolerance (ZOT: the range between customers' desired and adequate levels of service expectations) to the unique services provided by the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi Spa in Taiwan, this research study explores hotel customers' service expectations and perceived service quality while revealing the relationship between service quality, satisfaction, and future behavioral intentions. The findings indicate that the ZOT indeed exists in customers' service expectations through the significant difference between the desired and adequate levels of expectations. In addition, findings indicate that customers have diverse tolerance zones toward different hotel services regarding the perceived level of essentialness. Ultimately, the findings specify that customers' perceived service quality has a direct effect on both customer satisfaction and future behavioral intentions.
ContributorsChiu, Chien-Fen (Author) / Lee, Woojin (Thesis advisor) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Committee member) / Kim, Yushim (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This research is focused on competitive female video gamers. This study focuses on a specific group of competitive female gamers who participate in an all female online community group or clan known as the PMSclan. The purpose of the study is to analyze the highly competitive female video gaming clan members of the PMSclan in order to understand how resistance is displayed in a female centered video gaming community and how that affects the identity of the individual gamers through Shaw's (2001) theory of resistance. This study employs qualitative research design and uses content analysis of publicly available clan doctrines and member blogs through the PMSclan website. Findings indicate that collective acts of resistance lead to individual acts of resistance which can be seen through self-expression, self-determination, and empowerment. These acts of resistance have a positive impact on female gamers with outcomes of strength and power which can be displayed in a typically masculine society.
ContributorsPeña, Siobhan Jennell (Author) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Thesis advisor) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Hayes, Elisabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Commitment to an activity is widely studied in leisure research. Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP) describes characteristics a committed activity participant possesses. The Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) describes the psychological process a person goes through to become committed to a leisure activity. Awareness, attraction, attachment and loyalty make of the four stages of PCM. Both perspectives have been used to describe committed leisure activity participants and commitment to organized recreational events. Research on leisure activity has yet to determine how the individual becomes loyal. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the process in which recreation activity participates becomes loyal and to identify who can be labels as serious within the PCM Framework. Data was obtained from an online electronic survey distributed to participants of four U.S. marathon and half marathon events. A total of 579 responses were used in the final analysis. Path analysis determined the process in which a runner becomes committed. MANOVA is used to determine difference between leisure groups in the four stages of PCM. Results indicate that activity participants need to go through all four stages of PCM before becoming loyal. As knowledge increases, individuals are more motivated to participate. When the activity satisfies motives and becomes a reflection of their identity, feelings become stronger which results in loyalty. Socialization is instrumental to the progression through the PCM Framework. Additionally, attachment is the "bottleneck" in which all loyal activity participants my pass through. Differences exist between serious leisure groups in the attachment and loyalty stages. Those that are `less serious' are not as committed to the activity as their counterparts.
ContributorsMurphey, Elizabeth M (Author) / Lee, Woojin (Thesis advisor) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis advisor) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Chisum, Jack (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Developing new markets in tourism is vital for the prosperity of Small Island Tourism Economies like Bermuda (McElroy). Countries must continuously improve and reinvent themselves in order to maintain growth. SCUBA diving in Bermuda is a market that could be improved. Most SCUBA divers are of higher than average household income and can make an attractive tourist base. This thesis analyzes SCUBA tourists in Bermuda to ascertain their characteristics, economics impacts, and participation in island activities in order to help guide future endeavors involving SCUBA tourism in Bermuda and provide an outline of how to analyze other Niche markets. Comparisons are made between SCUBA and Non-SCUBA tourists (those who participated in Scuba against those that did not). The results show that spending, activities/events participated, and SCUBA tourists characteristics are not all significantly different from one another at the 5% level. Meaning that some variables were significant and some weren't , with in their respective groups. Within Trip Expenditures it was shown that, of the 9 variables tested, 3 were significant. In Activities, 8 of the 11 tested were significant, attractions there were 8 of the 18 variables that were significant and in Evening Entertainment, there was 2 out the 6 variables being significant at the 5% level.
ContributorsJack, Alastair (Author) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Herbst, Chris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
What happens to community-based institutions (CBIs) when persistent out-migration changes the socio-demographic structures in the community? This question needs exploration in the context of increasing urbanization in the developing countries, where a substantial population depends on forests for subsistence livelihoods. In pursuance of this question, Almora district in India provided the necessary conditions of high out-migration, and the presence of oldest surviving CBIs of forest management (locally called as Van Panchayats or VPs). Framing the research question as social resilience of VPs amidst high out-migration, a representative sample of six VPs in Almora was investigated. Factors considered crucial to social resilience were analyzed by using qualitative and quantitative techniques on primary data collected through household surveys (n=111) and secondary data from authentic sources. Results, organized by three levels of analysis, highlight: 1) community - low participation, particularly of women, in proceedings of VPs, and a transition away from forest-based livelihoods; 2) institutional (VPs) - low adaptability to changes in gendered composition and a shift away from the community-specific needs; and, 3) policy - reduced use and access of forest resources for the community, and curtailed autonomy of VPs. The findings suggest that out-migration is one among the multiple factors, and its impacts on VPs are mediated by the broader political economy around VPs, thus obviating a linear causal relationship. Therefore, the findings arguably inform policy and future research by highlighting linkages between diverse contextual factors at the regional and community level, and the points of concern for social resilience of VPs, with particular focus on out-migration.
ContributorsPrateek, Gautam (Author) / Knopf, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Kelman, Candice Carr (Committee member) / Mobarakeh, Behrang Forroughi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Denver, Colorado is experiencing an unprecedented growth spurt, particularly in the downtown neighborhoods. As such, the city has proposed a multitude of urban revitalization projects in its urban core. This pattern of revitalization has unintended consequences including changes in residents’ meanings assigned to their neighborhoods and subsequently changes in residents’ attachment to those neighborhoods. Given this, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to use a symbolic interactionist perspective to uncover resident meanings of their neighborhoods and discover how redevelopment efforts are affecting those assigned meanings. Participants, recruited through the snowball sampling method in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods in downtown Denver, were interviewed during spring of 2017. Photo-elicitation techniques were used as part of the interviews. Additionally, secondary data available through public documents were analyzed to provide a context for understanding the changes that are taking place in the selected neighborhoods. This data aids in guiding future research, which may ultimately better inform the government agencies and private organizations who are looking to redevelop low-income neighborhoods similar to the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods in the given study.
ContributorsHumberger, Olivia (Author) / Budruk, Megha (Thesis advisor) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Tetreault, Colin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Participation in competitive sports by athletes who are physically disabled has increased dramatically in recent decades. Given this growth in participation, sports for disabled athletes represents a worthy area of exploration. The purpose of this research is to further understand what motivates people and athletes with physical impairments to partake in adaptive recreation and sport. This study will explore motivations for participation in adaptive sport within theoretical lenses of Achievement Goal Theory (AGT), Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the Five-Factor Model by Omar-Fauzee and colleagues (2010). In addition, this study examined the relationship between motives with sense of community and life satisfaction. Seventy-one participants completed the online survey regarding the questions of interest. In order to determine if different motivations or achievement goals predicted sense of community, life satisfaction and psychological well-being, five regression models were tested. Descriptive statistics were utilized to assess the strongest motivators. Within the five-factor model, interest represented the strongest motivator followed by competency. Within the SDT framework, relatedness emerged as the strongest motivation factor. When AGT was tested, individuals with disabilities were found to be more task-oriented then ego-oriented. This indicates that people that participate in adaptive athletics value social connections, sense of freedom and developing their knowledge for sport-specific activity.
ContributorsPryor, Nickolas T (Author) / Larsen, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Legg, Eric (Committee member) / LaZear, Gus (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Resettled refugees face numerous challenges including unsafe living conditions, loss of permanent shelter, adjustment to a new culture, loneliness, and separation from family, friends, and community. Of particular importance is the lack of a feeling of sense of community (SOC) within their new surroundings. SOC is not only worthwhile as an outcome of its own, but may also predict additional positive outcomes such as resilience and cultural adjustment. Literature has shown participation in sport can develop youth positively and build social skills, while studies in other regions of the world have also found a sport team setting to be a place for immigrants to experience SOC. In this study, I use a congruent mixed methods approach to both explore the experience of SOC for youth refugees in a soccer club, and examine the relation of SOC to resilience and cultural adjustment. Using photo-elicitation and semi-structured interviews with 11 youth participants, the qualitative portion of the study explored SOC among youth participants. Findings note the presence of SOC as matched to theoretical frameworks both specific to sport, and to a more general theory of SOC. Further data were collected through questionnaires distributed to club members. Results from the quantitative analysis indicate a significant positive relation between SOC and resilience, and SOC and perceived acculturation. This study’s contribution is to illustrate how refugee youth in a sport club in the United States experience SOC, and the impact of that SOC. Results suggest practical implications for sport managers who wish to provide positive sport experiences for youth refugees.
ContributorsFader, Nina (Author) / Legg, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Klimek, Barbara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018