MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Oral Resources of the COVID-19 Pandemic as Knowledge-Based Storytelling
No full textLoud voices during the COVID era will be heard far into the future, but what about the everyday Albertan? They\u27re thoughts, fears, and persistence are important for future researchers to fully understand what it was like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the winter semester I have recorded oral histories of everyday Albertans where they share their experiences living during the COVID-19 pandemic. After recording the interviews, I uploaded the recordings onto a website I made to archive their stories for future researchers to access. The process in delivering the interviews has been based on \u27knowledge-based\u27 storytelling which empowers the interviewee by validating their experiences. My hope is to leave behind enough personal accounts to give an accurate representation of life in Alberta during this historic time.
Department: Arts and Cultural Management
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Heather Fitzsimmons-Fre
Forensic Nursing and the Healthcare System\u27s Response to Sexual Violence
No full textThis article presents a rapid review of the literature on care provided to survivors of sexual assault in hospitals and treatment centers. The purpose of the review is to examine the Canadian healthcare system’s response to survivors of sexual assault to provide an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of care provided, in order to identify recommendations to improve our response in the future. The studies included in the review were located by exploring four electronic databases and reference searching. Results show that survivors of sexual assault generally expressed high levels of satisfaction with the hospital- based nursing care received. Patients often left feeling empowered, respected, and well- informed. The most common downfall of care was the wait time that survivors had to endure while waiting for a forensic nurse. As well, there was some discrepancies on clear informed consent in the medical forensic examination. Recommendations for improved care involved the following: having around the clock and on-site sexual assault nurse examiners in emergency departments, increased privacy for survivors, sensitivity training for emergency department staff and general practitioners, and implementing systemwide policy and education to care for survivors. Lastly, limitations of the reviewed studies and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Faculty: Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Judee Onyski
The Psychophysics of Gender Perception in Handwriting
No full textHandwriting is a complex visual stimulus containing multiple dimensions. Such written letters are noisy and ambiguous, reflecting bits of one’s character within each writer’s unique form. In this sense, handwriting contains key features of the author’s identity much in the same way that faces contain one’s identity. Given our extensive experience with both stimuli, handwriting may be the only comparable stimulus to faces. This study therefore investigated whether traditional psychophysical techniques could be used to measure sensitivity to gender within handwriting samples and the role of word length. We created a completely novel set of stimuli to be able to control the gender identity strength, creating six strength levels: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100, depending on the % of male identity present. Word stimuli were presented under four word length conditions (2, 4, 8, and 16 letters). Subjects’ performance was well described with an ogival (psychometric) fit, demonstrating that the perception of gender in handwritten words can be captured psychophysically. We also found subjects’ performance varied depending on word length. Subjects possessed more uncertainty in rating the gender of a sample when fewer letters were present. As well, minimal differences in certainty rating 8 and 16 letter words provide support for the importance of global visual (efficient) processes in the perception of handwritten words.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Anderso
Worth the Risk: Narcissism and Risky Health Behaviour
No full textGrandiose narcissists (i.e., those who are self-focused, egotistical, and vain) are more likely to eat healthily and exercise due to their concerns with physical appearance (Hill, 2016). They also make riskier health decisions (e.g., binge drinking; Buelow & Brunell, 2014). We examine whether those high in narcissism would be more willing to risk their long-term health for short- term appearance enhancements. To do so, we measured participants (N = 289) narcissistic admiration (i.e., extraversion, charisma) and narcissistic rivalry (i.e., aggression, hostility). All participants viewed three advertisements for appearance-enhancing products (e.g., workout supplements) with the presence or absence of potential side effects. Ads depicted ideal male or female bodies and were matched to the self-reported sex of the participant. Participants indicated how willing they were to use these products to be admired by others, improve their health, be more competitive, and general self-improvement. Among those who viewed the male ads, those high (vs. low) in narcissistic admiration were more likely to endorse products to be more admired by others and improve their health when side effects were absent, but not when side effects were present. Participants who saw female ads did not show a significant difference in terms of health decisions regardless of the presence of side effects or levels of trait narcissism. Narcissistic rivalry did not impact decisions. Narcissism did not impact participants’ ability to assess potential risks, suggesting that side-effect visibility would aid in the health decisions of those attracted to these products.
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miranda Giacomi
Meeting in the middle: Hannah Arendt and Jose Ortega y Gasset on public discourse
No full textThe German-American political thinker Hannah Arendt and the Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset are both phenomenologists who point out not only the importance of public discourse and social activity as part of our human nature, but also the consequences of their lack of presence in modern society. They do not coincide with each other completely, but what they do conceive similarly and where they differ offers an opportunity for a deeper understanding of how important it is for us as humans to create, make better, and preserve our shared world.
Through an examination of the similarities and differences in ‘the rise of the social’ (Arendt) and ‘the rise of the masses’ (Ortega), this paper explores how both seek to reclaim the lost space between people, a space we, as social citizens, enter in order to dialogue with one another and create our political world. After laying out what Arendt and Ortega each mean by the social and the masses, and how each see its evolution and rise to prominence, this paper will then analyze what Arendt and Ortega each see as a higher form of activity - public, political and social activity, namely discourse, in the case of Arendt, and individual reflection and responsibility, in the case of Ortega. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of what is ultimately at stake, why this public, political activity is important to recover in modern society of today.
Department: Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alexander Castleton Flore
How to increase student-engaged undergraduate research
No full textUndergraduate research has increasingly become a valuable part of the university experience. However, most of the focus has been on sciences and humanities, and little focus has been put to school of business research opportunities. We will examine the benefits that present themselves to students, schools, and industry when more research opportunities are given to undergraduate business students.
Department: Organizational Behaviour, Human Resources Management, & Management
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Albena Pergelov
Rethinking Narcissism in Sports: Advantageous or Detrimental to a Team’s Success?
No full textDrawing on literature from personality and social psychology, the role of narcissism continues to be one of the most controversial constructs in sport. Reviewing a broad array of empirical research, this paper aimed at unravelling the effects of narcissism in various sporting elements: the players, the coaches, and the fans. Exploring both the benefits and drawbacks of narcissism, research reveals that narcissism can be valued as either advantageous or detrimental, depending on the component of the game. Reflecting upon the players aspect, narcissistic athletes might be best suited for individual sports as they provide the greatest opportunity for self-enhancement. Simultaneously, while narcissistic players often create major problems for a team, teams must not steer clear of all narcissistic athletes as they seem to be the most dependable performers during “big” games. Shifting towards coaches, research finds that those who exhibit moderate levels of narcissism, maximize leadership effectiveness such as communicating goals successfully with others. Yet, while these ideal levels may contribute to team success, research continues to find that narcissistic coaches severely impact team well-being as they are unable to put the needs of the team above theirs. Finally, despite the aggressiveness expressed by highly identified fans, the benefits of collective narcissism certainly prevail as their powerful presence leads their team to more successful outcomes
Mother, Maiden, Matron:: The Origin of Morgan le Fay, as it pertains to Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur.
No full textThe origin of the Arthurian mythos has long engrossed scholars and enthusiasts alike for centuries, and, perhaps, no character has bewildered scholars more than Morgan le Fay. Throughout the many iterations of the Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay has been characterized in incompatible ways; as both an ally and foe to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In Sir Thomas Malory\u27s Le Morte Darthur, this juxtaposed characterization is fully established as he characterizes Morgan le Fay as both King Arthur\u27s chief antagonist as well as the figure who welcomes him into Avalon at the end of the text.
This essay serves to exam the origin of Morgan le Fay as a literary character and, by examining and understanding her influences, justify her conflciting and inconsistent portrayls in the Arthurian continuum, specifically within Malory\u27s epic poem
Measuring the activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in relation to home-based additives by measured net weight loss
No full textThis research study is to measure the activity of saccharomyces cerevisiae through selected additives which have been added in the hydration step of making bread dough. The saccharomyces cerevisiae is sensitive to sugars (Mazzoleni, S. et al.2015) and by using multiple possible additives that can be found at home, we can compare which ones give a healthier yeast and therefore a better rise to the dough. As the saccharomyces cerevisiae ferments, it consumes the sugars naturally in the dough and creates an acidic environment to maintain its growth and produces CO2 as a product of this reaction, which is the cause for the rising dough. This can be tracked by how active the yeast is to its mean weight loss by measuring the weight loss of the three separate batches and comparing the results through a Multiple Comparisons of Means: Tukey Contrasts test to see if the significance to what is added to what was added to help the fermentation process of the yeast. We can see that easily soluble sugars are the best choices for promoting the health of the saccharomyces cerevisiae in by the test with F(9,20)=14.49, p<0.0001.Keywords: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bread, Fermentation, Glucose, Bakin
Using objects to represent artists in album cover design
No full textUp and Over trio\u27s music is as warm and welcoming as their friendship. To corporate this feeling in the packaging for their album, each member’s unique musical style is highlighted in each photograph of ordinary objects commonly found on artists\u27 tables.
Department: Design
Faculty Mentor: Constanza Pache