Matching Items (192)
Description
Empirical and theoretical gaps exist on the subject matter of attendee experiential behavior at community festivals as this action occurs in real time. To acquire knowledge and begin to build theory, attendee behavior was investigated through an interpretive lens to give rise to a socially constructed understanding of this phenomenon in contrast to typical positivist inquiry designs found in the field of event studies used to test theory and determine universal explanations. This ontology was deemed appropriate as human experience at community festivals is multifaceted, relative to social interactions, highly variable with complex meanings, and has a wide variety of consequential implications; all views representative of social constructivism. A grounded theory approach was used in conjunction with a participant observation method to collect data on attendee behavior during fieldwork undertaken at community festivals. Prior to fieldwork, literature was not reviewed nor specific theory pre-selected to serve as a basis for research, with the researcher's only intent to record attendee's on-site actions with an open mind. Fieldwork notes were systematically expanded into descriptive narratives that were broken down into initial codes to establish robust analytic directions, which were synthesized into categories and subcategories through focused coding. Relationships between categories and subcategories were reassembled with axial coding bringing into view a strong emergent theme on social capital bonding and bridging at community festivals and a second theme that considers the aspirations of event management to program festive experiences. To strengthen the second theme event manager interviews and content analysis of event association newsletters were conducted as theoretical sampling to move data towards saturation. From emergent themes it was theorized, while social capital bonding is profusely exhibited at community festivals, social capital bridging is minimally displayed unless augmented with programmed festivity to increase physical, emotional, and social engagement of attendees. Literature reviewed in relation to this theory revealed that spirituality, dance, music, the arts, and wild abandonment were important elements of festivity. An implication arising from this study indicates that if community festivals consciously enhance programmed festivity then correspondingly increased social capital impacts within community development might also be achieved.
ContributorsBiaett, Vernon (Author) / Phillips, Rhonda (Thesis advisor) / Budruk, Megha (Committee member) / Hultsman, Wendy (Committee member) / De La Garza, Sarah (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
The purpose of this study was to examine the local residents' perceptions toward the social impacts of FIBA EuroBasket 2011, held September 7th to September 12th, 2011 in Vilnius, Lithuania. This study focuses on the social impacts of the event since most of the mega-event academia is dominated by economic impact studies and this research attempts to go beyond a narrow quantitative approach to examine the social impacts in relation to two important academic contributions: 1) the embracement-withdrawal continuum and 2) the social exchange theory. A mixed methods analysis was adopted as the best approach for this research. Both a quantitative survey and qualitative questionnaire were used which yielded a total usable sample of 128 residents of Vilnius. Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted to examine the underlying themes of the quantitative data and coding and thematic development was used to make sense of the qualitative data. The results confirmed that the event was considered successful (97% of residents embraced the event) and they generated 6 factors, or impacts, that were deemed important for influencing resident perceptions: social costs, social benefits, sociocultural impacts, socioeconomic impacts, sociopolitical impacts, and socioenvironmental impacts. These results indicate that the use of mixed methods analyses is crucial to investigate the interdependence between each impact that affects residents' perceptions toward sport mega-events.
ContributorsAntoniou, Alexis (Author) / Phillips, Rhonda (Thesis advisor) / Mean, Lindsey (Committee member) / Hultsman, Wendy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The inspiration behind my thesis comes from my third grade teacher who completed numerous Ironman races. In third grade, I decided that one day I would complete an Ironman too. Thus, for my thesis I studied the Ironman race series and analyzed the power of the Ironman brand. In addition to researching Ironman, I experienced the essence of Ironman first hand by completing an Ironman 70.3 race. My thesis documents the history of Ironman and how one small race in Hawaii has grown to over 242 races held worldwide. It describes the types of people who complete in Ironman races and the demographics of competitors. Through my research, I concluded that the brand power of Ironman is what makes the race series so strong. I attributed the following five categories to the success of Ironman: Quality Differentiation, Brand Development, Exclusivity, Media Relations, and Partnerships and Products. Additionally, I researched competing triathlon race series and concluded that they just cannot compete with the Ironman brand. Participants even state that they would not propel themselves across 140.6 total miles of water, pavement, and trail if they cannot attach "Ironman" to their name. Therefore, Ironman has a strong hold on the triathlon industry and continues to grow at a rate of 20% each year. In order to fully experience the quality, organization, and inspiration of Ironman, I registered for an Ironman 70.3 race in Oceanside, California. For the past year, I have experienced the struggles and triumphs of athletes training for an Ironman race. I have sacrificed things such as sleep, free time, and a social life in order to fully experience what athletes go through to train for an Ironman event.
ContributorsStrand, Shea Danielle (Author) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis director) / Kuntze, Klas (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
A series of mitochondria targeting probes was synthesized for the purpose of exploring the feasibility of a mitochondria targeting fluorescent sensor. Of the probes, the probe with a two carbon spacer showed the best co-localization from staining with the established MitoTracker Red® FM, indicating a potential development of the probe into mitochondria targeting sensor. However, cytotoxicity was observed for the probe with a six carbon spacer. Three additional mitochondria targeting fluorescent probes of longer spacer groups were synthesized, but the cytotoxicity was not observed to be as high as that of the probe with a two carbon spacer. The cytotoxicity was characterized to be that of caspase dependent cell death. To screen for a possible effect on apoptosis due to the mitochondrial probe, three fluorescent fusion proteins binding the anti-apoptotic proteins were designed and expressed. Each purified fusion protein was then incubated with the cytotoxic mitochondrial probe, and the mixture was isolated by running an affinity column. The fluorescence analysis of eluted fractions showed preliminary data of possible interaction between the protein and the mitochondrial probe.
ContributorsLee, Fred (Author) / Meldrum, Deirdre R. (Thesis director) / Tian, Yanqing (Committee member) / Zhang, Liqiang (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
An in-depth analysis of Homeview Realty and Homeview Financial was conducted. A marketing plan for both companies was prepared for this project. Homeview Realty and Homeview Financial are in the midst of dynamic industries. The landscape of doing business in the real estate and mortgage industries are constantly changing and evolving. Thus, it is vital for Homeview Realty and Homeview Financial to constantly be knowledgeable in these fields. With this dynamic aspect, the landscape for marketing has also changed; it became digital in nature. Thus, it is important to analyze Homeview Realty and Homeview Financial currently and create a live marketing plan that can be updated when needed. With a marketing plan in hand, Homeview will be able understand its business model, mission, goals, and objectives and in turn be able to create marketing campaigns compatible with the companies objectives and strategic directions.
ContributorsCrowley, Rachel Victoria (Author) / Ostrom, Lonnie (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Mirshak, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Repeating tiles made of DNA were used to try to form an indefinitely large structure. Both the tiles and structure were 2D. Two different patterns were tested, one corrugated and one not. Corrugation means that the tiles alternated between facing up and facing down, canceling out any curvature to the tile and creating a slightly corrugated but largely 2D pattern. Annealing methods were also experimented with. Annealing the structure in two, separate steps as opposed to one was tested. Another experiment was comparing cyclic versus linear annealing. A linear decrease in temperatures defines the linear annealing, and a cyclic method involved a linear drop to a certain temperature, followed by a slight increase in temperature and cooling back down again. This cycle is done several times before it continues linear cool down. It was seen that both corrugated and non-corrugated structures could be made. In both cases tiles that make up a larger section of the overall pattern were more successful. This is especially important for the non-corrugated pattern. Linear and 2step annealing methods seem to yield the best results.
ContributorsHunt, Ashley Elizabeth (Author) / Yan, Liu (Thesis director) / Yan, Hao (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
While I was brainstorming topics for my thesis project I came across the idea to look at weddings and specifically the wedding planning industry. It is an industry where very little research exists. It is important for the future of the industry to have some academic studies done on the wedding planning industry. When I started this project I was looking to find out about the characteristics of wedding satisfaction from a client perspective versus the planner's perspective and what deems a successful wedding planner. This could provide valuable insight while possibly shedding light on why some couples use a wedding planner and others do not. The research questions I will try to answer through the survey are: what are the characteristics of wedding satisfaction from a client perspective versus the planner's perspective and what deems a successful wedding planner from the client perspective versus the planner's perspective. I researched the industry and created a survey that was sent to a group of 15 planners. I hoped to get permission to send my survey to four to six previous clients from each planner. The list of wedding planners came from a board member of the International Special Events Society. If all surveys had been completed it would have given me a client pool of 60 to 80 couples. The problem was that none of the planners were willing to share the client survey with their clients. Therefore, I could not obtain a sufficient number of couples that had previously used wedding planners. I attempted to contact organizations that would have access to brides. I also attempted to reach out on Facebook and through email lists to married people who used wedding planners. None of these methods proved successful in amassing a sufficient number of individuals who used planners for their wedding. The project evolved into an analysis of the assistance options couples have to make big purchases like a wedding and a house. The amount spent on these big purchases varies as well as the time couples have to pay for them. There is also great variation in the kinds of resource's couples have to advise them before making these larger purchases. For example, when a couple is planning their wedding they can hire a wedding planner to assist them or do research on blogs and rely on parents and friends for help and assistance. When a couple prepares to buy a house (or another type of real estate) they will often hire a realtor. There are some resources online for the few couples that choose not to use a realtor, however, at some point they may need to seek a professional to assist with the legal documents. The inspiration behind this thesis was to begin academic research on a young industry where there was none. The profession of "wedding planning" is very new. There is no traditional academic research on the wedding planner as a profession. When the initial surveys and planners did not receive the kind of participation and cooperation needed it was disappointing that this project could not shed light on this young industry. The evolution of this project into a comparison between realtors and wedding planners suggested the potential of where the wedding planning as a profession could be was brought to light. If wedding planners and wedding planning as a profession could evolve to a place of necessity similar to purchasing a house the profession could gain validation and grow. At some point in that evolution, hopefully the profession would be in a better place for academic research and the individuals in the profession may be in a place to be more open to assist in that research. Ultimately getting to the place where a wedding planner is seen as necessary should be the goal for this profession. The amount of money spent, the emotional importance of the commitment and the legal promises involved in having a wedding creates that need but many people do not know this. Couples know very little about the individual costs that make up a wedding. A key problem with this is that it creates disconnect between couples expectations and budgets. If wedding planners could, through their marketing and other efforts, communicate with potential clients that a wedding planner is not a luxury, but a necessity, it would help insure emotional satisfaction and protect the financial investment of the couple and their family.
ContributorsMayberry, Sophia Elizabeth (Author) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis director) / Dempsey, Matt (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans are speculated to reduce lung cancer mortality. However LDCT scans impose multiple risks including false-negative results, false- positive results, overdiagnosis, and cancer due to repeated exposure to radiation. Immunosignaturing is a new method proposed to screen and detect lung cancer, eliminating the risks associated with LDCT scans. Known and blinded primary blood sera from participants with lung cancer and no cancer were run on peptide microarrays and analyzed. Immunosignatures for each known sample collectively indicated 120 peptides unique to lung cancer and non-cancer participants. These 120 peptides were used to determine the status of the blinded samples. Verification of the results from Vanderbilt is pending.
ContributorsNguyen, Geneva Trieu (Author) / Woodbury, Neal (Thesis director) / Zhao, Zhan-Gong (Committee member) / Stafford, Phillip (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this project was to identify proteins associated with the migration and invasion of non-transformed MCF10A mammary epithelial cells with ectopically expressed missense mutations in p53. Because of the prevalence of TP53 missense mutations in basal-like and triple-negative breast cancer tumors, understanding the effect of TP53 mutations on the phenotypic expression of human mammary epithelial cells may offer new therapeutic targets for those currently lacking in treatment options. As such, MCF10A mammary epithelial cells ectopically overexpressing structural mutations (G245S, H179R, R175H, Y163C, Y220C, and Y234C) and DNA-binding mutations (R248Q, R248W, R273C, and R273H) in the DNA-binding domain were selected for use in this project. Overexpression of p53 in the mutant cell lines was confirmed by western blot and q-PCR analysis targeting the V5 epitope tag present in the pLenti4 vector used to transduce TP53 into the mutant cell lines. Characterization of the invasion and migration phenotypes resulting from the overexpression of p53 in the mutant cell lines was achieved using transwell invasion and migration assays with Boyden chambers. Statistical analysis showed that three cell lines—DNA-contact mutants R248W and R273C and structural mutant Y220C—were consistently more migratory and invasive and demonstrated a relationship between the migration and invasion properties of the mutant cell lines. Two families of proteins were then explored: those involved in the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Results of q-PCR and immunofluorescence analysis of epithelial marker E-cadherin and mesenchymal proteins Slug and Vimentin did not show a clear relationship between mRNA and protein expression levels with the migration and invasiveness phenotypes observed in the transwell studies. Results of western blotting, q-PCR, and zymography of MMP-2 and MMP-9 also did not show any consistent results indicating a definite relationship between MMPs and the overall invasiveness of the cells. Finally, two drugs were tested as possible treatments inhibiting invasiveness: ebselen and SBI-183. These drugs were tested on only the most invasive of the MCF10A p53 mutant cell lines (R248W, R273C, and Y220C). Results of invasion assay following 30 μM treatment with ebselen and SBI-183 showed that ebselen does not inhibit invasiveness; SBI-183, however, did inhibit invasiveness in all three cell lines tested. As such, SBI-183 will be an important compound to study in the future as a treatment that could potentially serve to benefit triple-negative or basal-like breast cancer patients who currently lack therapeutic treatment options.
ContributorsZhang, Kathie Q (Author) / LaBaer, Joshua (Thesis director) / Anderson, Karen (Committee member) / Gonzalez, Laura (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2015-05