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Understanding Factors of Sexual Behaviors in Teenagers in Mississippi
Get PDFThe primary purpose of this study is to determine the associations between socio-demographic factors and sexual behaviors in teens based on bivariate analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey for 2015. In conducting a comparative analysis of survey data for both the United States and the state of Mississippi, this study aims to depict a picture of the state of teen sexual behaviors both nationally and in Mississippi. A secondary quantitative analysis of the Mississippi survey dataset also sets out to highlight any possible significant relationships between teen sexual behaviors and certain types of sex education curriculum. This thesis uncovers findings about the factors related to teen sexual behaviors in hopes of providing a foundation for future research to be conducted that would better measure the effectiveness of Mississippi’s sex education programs.
From the analysis, significant relationships between age, sexual initiation, and contraceptive usage both in the national dataset and the Mississippi dataset. Along with this, significant relationships between sexual initiation and gender, race/ethnicity, and alcohol usage were also established in both datasets. Regarding the analysis of the curriculum, no significant relationships were found between the presence of a formal sex education and any sexual behaviors as well as abstinence-based curriculum and any sexual behaviors. Three significant relationships were found between certain sexual behaviors (sexual initiation, current sexual activity, and birth control use) and curriculum that included birth control instruction.
Although the findings support and contribute to much of the existing literature, shortcomings still remain. For instance, secondary analysis can further the understanding and effectiveness of Mississippi sex education laws, but the implications of the secondary analysis are limited due to the lack of information on participant location in the dataset. More research and data collection are recommended to manage such a study and such efforts are highly encouraged in order for one to conduct a quality policy analysis of Mississippi’s sex education laws
Discovery of Evidence with Social Media
Get PDFAdvocacy is about the client, who is entitled to a thorough investigation of the facts. The formal fact gathering stage of litigation is discovery, which involves interrogatories, depositions, requests to produce, medical examinations, and requests for admission (Maerowitz & Mauet, 2013). Interrogatories and depositions give litigants a chance to posit questions regarding social media evidence. A social media post could be used to discredit and devalue prior witnesses’ testimony. It could be particularly useful for attorneys and paralegals who find themselves lacking corroborating evidence to bolster their claims using online resources. Consider how websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow users to cultivate a reflection of their character online. The result is a database of digital-dossiers. Case law has shown that requests which are excessive in scope and which are not justified.
The fact is that the use of social media evidence has been a recent development, but it is here to stay. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers - AAML(2010) found that 81% of top divorce attorneys reported a rise in the frequency of social media evidence in the courtroom. 66% reported that Facebook was the primary website being used. Social media evidence has emerged with courtroom application, and thus is a valuable source of evidence. This law review will assert that social media has to be taken seriously as a source of evidence. It is widely used by two-thirds of Americans. It is an advancement in American life on par with the invention of the radio. We are communicating different. Thankfully, the law is compatible with this new form of interactive technology. This paper will act as a snapshot of social media evidence in the law as of 2019. By doing so, this paper will review Federal Rules of Evidence, Statutory law, and case law will be reviewed to lay the foundation of its applicability. In addition, the paper will also review the nature of social media as a communicative medium in order to show that it is a useful for attorneys. This involves reviewing statistics and scholarly articles which confirm the pervasive use and forms of content
The Culture of Football in the United States: How Hegemonic Masculinity Affects and is Expressed in American Football
Get PDFThe construction of an American hegemonic masculinity has been solidified and protected since the 19th century, allowing particular groups, but not all groups, of men to wield power over others through strength, aggression, and toughness. The popularity of American football is a manifestation of society’s value of this form of masculinity, accepted as an aspect of American culture. My thesis work aims to answer the following question: how has American hegemonic masculinity shaped and been expressed through football, and in what ways has the NFL responded? In order to answer this question, I utilize a mixed methods approach to investigate how hegemonic masculinity displayed through the sport of football negatively impacts players and the American public alike. I apply a theoretical framework built upon prevalent scholarship in examinations of gender, race, and risk to analyze those who are particularly affected by this cultural construct. The results ultimately indicate four dominant implications and manifestations of hegemonic masculinity on football: negative health effects, exploitation and predation of poor and marginalized groups, domestic violence, and rigid cultural and gender understanding that do not allow for deviance. My research also indicates that the NFL, using their Corporate Social Responsibility campaign and influential public relations strategies, masks these negative implications under the guise of harm reduction techniques and involvement in social endeavors or refuses to address them at all. My research will serve as a comprehensive discussion of widely held concerns about football through the lens of hegemonic masculinity. A deeper understanding of this topic will generate discourse about the moral aspects of engaging in football and will foster a discussion of responsibility, accountability, and hegemony
Interactions Between Contextual and Phonetic Information in Children’s and Adults’ Perception of Non-Native Speech
Get PDFPhoneme categorization (i.e., the ability to differentiate between different speech sounds) is not an easy task, as individuals must integrate multiple sources of information, including both acoustic and contextual information. When a talker has a foreign accent, the listener may place more weight on sentential context because of the ambiguity of the acoustic/phonetic information. For example, listeners are more likely to classify a word that is phonetically ambiguous between goat and coat as goat if the sentential context is “The boy milked the ___,” and this is especially the case when listening to a non-native (compared to native) talker (Schertz & Hawthorne, 2018). In the present study, we extended this result in adults using multiple talkers and two tasks. Additionally, we continued this research with children and found that they do use sentential context, but, unlike adults, do not show significant differences in how they use context for native vs. non-native talkers. The findings of this study allow for a better understanding of how listeners of different ages flexibly reweight acoustic and contextual cues within the context of different types of talkers. Understanding this could allow for better communication in a diverse America.
Keywords: speech perception, non-native speech, children, cue weighting, phoneme categorizatio
Benchmark Structures and Harmonic Vibrational Frequencies of Hydrated Halide Ions: X– (H2O)n, X = F, Cl, Br, and I (where n = 1 – 4)
Get PDFThis study extends our efforts to generate benchmark structures and harmonic vi- brational frequencies from neutral hydrogen bonded clusters to solvated ions. The analytical gradients and Hessians developed for the N-body:Many-body integrated QM:QM method facilitate the computation of benchmark-quality properties near the CCSD(T) complete basis set limit. In this work, a series of solvated halide ion sys- tems (X−(H2O)n clusters, where X = F, Cl, Br and I and n = 1 to 4) is being characterized with the MP2 and 2-body:Many-body CCSD(T):MP2 (2b:Mb) meth- ods. For n ≥ 2, the latter technique uses the high-level CCSD(T) method to evaluate all 1- and 2-body interactions whereas the low-level MP2 method is used for the 3- body through N-body terms of the many-body expansion. Triple- and quadruple-ζ quality correlation-consistent basis sets were used for these geometry optimizations and harmonic frequency computations. The relative energies, intermolecular OH· · · X bond distances and harmonic vibrational frequency shifts (from the H2O symmetric stretch) are reported for 10 different systems, some of which are found in previous literature and some of which are new structures. The intermolecular OH· · · X bond distances are larger for systems with a larger anion atom and for systems with more waters, and the harmonic vibrational frequency stretches are larger for systems with a smaller anion atom and for systems with fewer waters. Bond distance and vibrational frequency deviations (from benchmark values) demonstrate that method effects play a larger role than basis sets effects when describing these systems
Effects of Halogen Bonding on 13C NMR Shifts of Iodotolan
Get PDFHalogen bonding is the ability of heavier halogens to have noncovalent interactions similar to hydrogen bonding. By mixing two compounds that should halogen bond together and analyzing this mixture with carbon NMR spectroscopy, we attempted to test the strength and extent of halogen bonding in 4-iodotolan. After observing the changes in the 4-iodotolans chemical shifts, the halogen bond appears to be too weak to affect the chemical shifts in a substantial manner; however, the C-I bonded carbon shows a slight but consistent increase in its shift which could be an avenue for future research
Equality in Education: Solutions Aimed at Closing the Achievement Gap in Mississippi Public Schools
Get PDFThis thesis attempts to examine solutions aimed at closing the achievement gap in Mississippi public schools. The research questions that are addressed in this thesis include: a) Why is the achievement gap part of policy debates in Mississippi and how have individ-ual school districts and policymakers responded to the gap? b) How is the gap measured and what are the trends since 2001 when the No Child Left Behind Act was adopted? c) How are achievement gap debates reflected in the current policy? d) Have any of the past national education policies been effective in decreasing the achievement gap? The methods used include a quantitative analysis of NAEP data in order to construct a series of time-series graphs as well as a series of interviews with policymakers and school district offi-cials in Mississippi in order to write a policy proposal for the state. The research found that while national education policies have had a positive impact on racial achievement gaps, no policy has worked to close the socioeconomic achievement gap
A Review of Financial Statements and their Elements
Get PDFIn this thesis, I investigate various issues related to the practical application of accounting procedures. These issues include both objective activities and situations that require the preparer to use significant professional judgement. This was accomplished by researching and completing a series of twelve case studies assigned by Dr. Victoria Dickinson. These case studies consisted of various financial statements issued by real companies, both domestic and foreign and covering numerous industries. While analyzing these financial statements, I was presented with the task of researching and discussing various issues, such as appropriate disclosures of Provision of Bad Debts and Depreciation Expense. When preparing or auditing financial statements of a company, it is important to remember how many people rely on the information being accurate. Investors and creditors make crucial financial decisions based on this information, so it is critical that the statements are prepared to the best of the accountant’s ability. By analyzing some of these real world issues, I learned about the proper way to approach these figures that require profession judgement. Further, by including various industries and foreign companies, I was exposed to a healthy background of variety that I will likely encounter throughout my career.
Typically, each case had a central theme regarding a certain area of the financial statements. For example, while studying Molson Coors Brewing company, I investigated the proper way of recording different categories of gains and losses that are not considered central operating activities. Other cases focused on how to properly estimate Bad Debt Expense for a period, how to account for outstanding debt, and many other topics. Overall, the issues I encountered through my research are practical situations that I will encounter throughout my career, and through this thesis I have been provided skills that will aid in making proper decisions in subjective issues
Twelve Cases of Accounting
Get PDFThe honors accounting students at the University of Mississippi are given the option to participate in an alternative thesis track; we partake in a year-long class junior year in which we are given a case study every other week to complete by the following week. We are also required to participate in accounting case competitions sponsored by Big Four accounting firms, in which we give oral presentations of our business solutions to partners at the firms.
In this thesis, I have investigated twelve case studies of accounting. The topics in these cases include generally accepted accounting principles, bad debt expense, inventory methods, depreciation methods, lease capitalization, deferred income tax, income statement formats, allowance for doubtful accounts, time value of money, fixed asset transactions, research and development costs, data analytics, long-term debt, shareholder’s equity, investments and securities, and revenue recognition. The companies analyzed include Molson Coors, Pearson, Palfinger, Volvo, Rite Aid, Merck, State Street, ZAGG, and Apple.
The following cases are analyzed mostly in a question-and-answer format, for which the numbering of the questions aligns with the original cases we were given. The appendices at the end of each case consist mainly of financial statements and notes to the financial statements. The introductions at the beginning of each case emphasize what I learned specifically from each individual case study
A Comprehensive Review of Accounting through Case Studies
Get PDFAn in-depth analysis of accounting was performed through a progression of case studies which covered technical, as well as disputed, accounting concepts and theory. This was performed through the Accounting 420 class which met to further discuss and debate these topics with instructors, accounting firms, and other academic peers. These cases create scenarios from real life examples in order to portray the actual nature of accounting and its basis. This thesis contains analysis cases each with a specific emphasis and idea pertaining to an aspect of accounting. Note that Case 4 is not included as it was a calculation based exercise