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Character Challenges American Christian Business Leaders Face in the Secular Digital Age
Get PDFIn the digital age, Christian business leaders are a minority who are commonly expected to change their principles of leadership to fit within the secularized culture. These expectations for change are generating character challenges to the very core of a Christian business leader’s moral convictions and forcing them to make decisions which pit the practice of their proclaimed faith against a secularized business practice. In these workplace challenges, the Christian business leader’s faith, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion compete with secularized practices accepted in today’s American culture. Additionally, digital age behavioral visibility, which can be leveraged to negatively portray the intent of the leader’s actions globally in near real time, further compounds the character challenge as the leader must weigh the implications of and potential for a secular majority pushback. This research documents the insufficient understanding of Christian business leader character challenges prevalent in the secularized digital age. It provides granularized insights into the types of character challenges they face which form both practical implications to inform general business practices and theoretical implications to improve the understanding of business theory
Louis Pasteur: The Man Who Said, Science Brings Men Closer to God
Get PDFJuly 6, 2025, marks the 140-year anniversary of the first successful treatment of the rabies virus, discovered by Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur’s contributions and reputation are ever prevalent today, with “pasteurized” products being the signature of his legacy in microbiology. Through the creation of the “pasteurization” process (the gentle heating of food and drink products to eliminate pathogens), Louis Pasteur eloquently stated his motive for scientific discovery: “Man’s first look at the universe discovers only variety, diversity, multiplicity of phenomena. Let this gaze be enlightened by science . . . and simplicity and unity shine everywhere.” Ultimately, Pasteur’s work sought a higher purpose than innovation, as he summarized in his signature saying, “Science brings us closer to God” (Vallery-Radot 1902)
Crown of Thorns
Get PDFCrown of Thorns is a proposed historical fiction series. Set in France on the brink of the 1789 French Revolution, the story speaks to themes of belonging, brokenness, abuse, forgiveness, and navigating through trauma and impossible choices. A challenge that a writer can face when seeking to craft an emotionally resonant series for the small screen is in building a genuine audience connection. This thesis and creative manuscript for the series pilot episode, The Spurning, focuses on exploring and demonstrating the importance that authentic characters render in building audience connection between viewer and series developed for television or streaming networks. It also explores how character development that delves into the vulnerability, honesty, flaws, and complexities of human nature can help to mitigate these challenges. Ultimately, this exploration of character development can serve to enable the creation of authentic characters in the proposed historical fiction series, Crown of Thorns, so that it can reach its intended audience with impact, meaning, and emotional resonance
The Relationships Among Sleep Patterns, Memory, and Attention in School-Aged Children
No full textThis study explores the intricate relationships among sleep patterns, memory, and attention in school-aged children. Sleep is important for cognitive development, with studies suggesting that both quantity and quality of sleep significantly influence memory consolidation and attentional processes. Research indicates that insufficient or disrupted sleep can lead to deficits in working memory and sustained attention, negatively impacting academic performance and overall cognitive functioning. There is a lack of comprehensive studies that investigate how sleep disruptions impact both memory and attention during childhood. This study seeks to fill that gap by investigating the relationships among sleep, memory, and attention in school-aged children, contributing to a more integrated understanding of how sleep influences cognitive development. Sixty-nine participants were recruited online and completed a four-part anonymous survey measuring sleep disruptions, memory performance, and attention levels in school-aged children. A one-tailed Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to explore the relationships among sleep patterns, memory, and attention in school-aged children. Contrary to the original hypothesis, findings for this study revealed a significant positive correlation between sleep disturbances and memory performance. Also, according to this sample, sleep disturbances are not reliably associated with attention levels in children. Findings from this study contribute to the growing body of evidence linking sleep patterns to cognitive functioning in children
The Relationship Between Attitude Toward Suicide and Related Sociodemographic Factors That Influence the Use of Mental Health Resources Among Undergraduate College Students: A Predictive Correlational Study
Get PDFThe purpose of this quantitative, predictive, correlational research study was to identify the relationship between attitude toward willingness to intervene against suicide scores and the linear combination of sex and age among undergraduate students. Higher education institutions must now determine if these sociodemographic variables prompted undergraduate college students to seek out interventions and use mental health services in case of suicide. The target undergraduate population included 93 full-time students between the ages of 18-45 from a postsecondary institution. A convenience sample was used to obtain 93 students, but only 80 participants in the study completed the survey in its entirety. The Willingness to Intervene Against Suicide Questionnaire was uploaded to Survey Monkey and emailed to participants, and then, multilinear regression statistics were used to compute and analyze scores from the questionnaire. The overall regression model associating age and sex assigned at birth with the Subjective Norms Subscale scores was significant F(2, 77) = 3.98, p ≤ 0.005. The null hypothesis was rejected. This significant result was driven by a positive relationship between age and Subjective Norms (B = 2.65, SEM = .941, p = .02). Similar findings were observed for Perceived Behavioral Control, F(2,77) = 3.94, p = .02, with age being the only significant predictor of Perceived Behavioral Control scores (B = 3.17, SEM = 1.19, p = .009). The other two subscales, Attitude and Intention, were unrelated to age and sex assigned at birth. The WIS sum score model was significant, F (2,77) = 5.78, p = .01, but age was the only significant predictor (B = 10.67, SEM = 3.16). The results indicated there was no correlation between assigned sex at birth, age, and willingness to intervene against suicide scores. The study may need to be ongoing to see how the relationship between variables changes over a significant period of time
A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach to Understanding the Academic Support Services That Influence the Success of Student Veterans
Get PDFThe purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the academic support services that influence the success of student veterans pursuing higher education at Fort Green of the South. The theory guiding this study was Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory focusing on the extrinsic motivators that enhance academic support services for student veteran success. The central research question was: How do academic support services influence the success of student veterans? The methodology of this study used a qualitative approach, employing hermeneutic phenomenology to best address the research question and exploration of the lived experiences of the student veteran’s utilization of academic support services towards academic success. Participants were selected using convenience and criterion-based sampling of United States Armed Forces member population at Fort Green of the South. Data collection methods consisted of individual interviews, focus groups, and journal prompts that were further analyzed with the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method of analysis and thematic analysis. Findings revealed three themes that captured the essence of the student veterans lived experiences using academic support services in support of their academic success: work-life -school balance, persistence and overcoming external challenges, and academic support systems. These themes highlighted the complex relationship between personal responsibilities, resilience in the face of adversity, and the critical role of accessible veteran-specific academic resources. These findings emphasize the need for academic support services that are designed to specifically address the unique experiences, challenges, and strengths of student veterans in higher education
A Phenomenological Study Understanding Religious and Spiritual Coping in African American Female Veterans Who Experienced Combat-Related Trauma
Get PDFAfrican American females are drawn to pursue a military career for many reasons, including upholding a family tradition, securing funding for education, or simply due to the stability it offered in a challenging economic climate. This study depicted narratives of battlefield-induced psychological stress arising from the convergence of military culture intersectionality, posttraumatic stress, and the transition to civilian life. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the religious or spiritual coping of African American female veterans who experienced combat-related trauma in the military. The participants were interviewed at Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) and Veterans Bridge Home. The theory guiding this study was intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw. This study delved into the interconnected nature of race, gender, class, and epistemology, examining how particular knowledge arose from lived realities. Previous literature touched on various themes, and related topics included military culture identity exploration, trauma exposure analysis, posttraumatic stress examination, spirituality reflected through meaning-making processes, cultural humility, and understanding more about health care disparities that existed among African American female veterans. The researcher’s methodological strategy aligned with transcendental phenomenology. The study measured encompassed focused, structured, open-ended questions and a focus group that drew connections between common threads
The Effect of Sleep Latency, Duration, and Quality in Adolescents When Altering Nighttime Smartphone and Social Media Use
Get PDFSmartphones and social media are quickly becoming standard technological tools for connection and socialization within the modern-day adolescent population. Inversely, sleep for adolescents/young adults is decreasing while sleep problems are rising. This research trend is prompting researchers to investigate how restricting or eliminating smartphone/social media use benefits sleep health. The current study hypothesized that when adolescents/ young adults aged 18-21 eliminate smartphone/social media usage one hour before bedtime there would be a significantly lower number of nighttime awakenings, a reduction in sleep onset, and a higher number of minutes slept for participants in the experimental group when compared to participants in the control group with unlimited smartphone/social media access. The study obtained 106 research participants (n=54 experimental group, n=52 control group) aged 18-21 that engaged in the weeklong study. The study showed the experimental group fell asleep 11.82 minutes faster than the control group, sleep latency reductions of 16.15 for the participants in the experimental group, and the experimental group increased their total number of minutes slept per night by 16.46 total minutes. Moreover, pre and post PSQI and PSAS scores in the experimental group revealed a statistically significant large effect thus indicating that stopping smartphone use one hour before bedtime significantly improved one’s perceived sleep quality and significantly improved one’s perceived problems falling asleep. Finally, both the experimental and control groups reported a decrease in nighttime awakenings
Keep the Family Close: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study on Family Support and Successful Re-Entry
Get PDFThe purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to understand successful reintegration with positive family support for formerly incarcerated African American men in a major metropolitan city in North Carolina. Individuals released from prison face challenges that result in the likelihood of recidivism. Previous studies regarding these individuals have focused on the requirements for their successful re-entry into society, including financial stability, housing, employment, and family support; however, there is a need to understand what forms of support are needed from families. The theory guiding the current study is the social support theory, as it explains that support from communities, social networks, and confiding partners prevents crime by providing these individuals an outlet to cope with hardship through non-criminal means. This study employed a qualitative methodology to highlight the experiences of formerly incarcerated African American men, which can then be used to inform and change programming and incentives pertaining to the re-entry process
Predicting Success on the National Physical Therapy Examination for Graduates of a Physical Therapist Assistant Program: A Correlational, Logistic Regression Study
Get PDFThe purpose of this quantitative, predictive, correlational study was to assess if practice examinations and self-efficacy influence first-attempt passing scores on the National Physical Therapist Examination for physical therapist assistants. This study is important because, upon graduation from an accredited program, graduates must pass a rigorous national examination to obtain licensure to practice. Concurrently, accreditation standards require physical therapist assistant programs to maintain licensure examination pass rates of 85% for program graduates. With the high-stakes examination affecting the future of graduates and program accreditation status, effective preparation and assessment tools mutually benefit stakeholders. The study utilized binomial logistic regression to analyze data from 112 physical therapist assistant graduates from accredited programs in the United States. Data were collected using the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale and the Academic Practice Exam Assessment Tool scores via Microsoft Teams Forms. The logistic regression analysis indicates a predictive correlation between Form A of the Practice Exam Assessment Tool and first-attempt success on the National Physical Therapy Examination for the Physical Therapist Assistant, and the logistic regression model correctly classified 90% of cases overall, with a sensitivity of 95.6% and a specificity of 53.8%. It is recommended that further research examine self-efficacy, practice cumulative high-stakes examinations, and best practices for remediation at various stages of the physical therapy curriculum. In addition, future research should explore the review courses, study materials, and individual preparation habits between the time following graduation and taking the licensure examination