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Regression with Atypical Data: Measurement Error, Periodicity, and Non-Normality
No full textRegression is a ubiquitous and fundamental method that can be found in any ele- mentary statistics course. The simplicity and self evidently useful nature of linear regression beguiles a non-negligible portion of researchers into disrespecting assump- tions required by these models, namely in terms of accuracy of covariates and the underlying nature of the data. This disregard can at best lead to meaningless results and at worse cause significant misunderstandings in scientific pursuit.
In this dissertation we strive propose remedies to violations of specific assump- tions. Namely the assumptions that covariates are either observed without measure- ment error or they are assumed to be non-periodic, or that responses are non-periodic. Further, we cover the case in which the measurement error is not only present but is non-Gaussian, as is the standard in the majority of measurement error literature. We propose these approaches for not only parametric, but non-parametric regression as well, and introduce a new concept regression with periodic covariates, that is the concept of symmetric responses around a mode. Each of these adaptations serve to better model the response data, which is shown through extensive simulation and real data application
Aesthetic Judgment: Considering a Contemporary Standard of Taste
No full textOriginally published in 1757 as part of his Four Dissertations essay collection, David Hume’s essay, “Of the Standard of Taste,” occupies a prominent place in Enlightenment aesthetic studies. Due to an oversaturation of print materials being produced, eighteenth century society was concerned with evaluating and ranking the massive quantities of art being produced. Philosophers such as David Hume attempted to define criteria for determining a standard of taste, aiming to hierarchically rank works of art based on aesthetic experience. For centuries, critics such as Timothy Costelloe, Noel Carroll, David Marshall, Jonathan Friday, James Shelley, and many others have engaged in conversation discussing Hume’s essay, claiming that his argument is full of challenges. However, the twenty-first-century aesthetic environment is one that calls for the same type of evaluation of works of art as eighteenth-century society. Due to the oversaturation of artworks produced through the digital medium, aestheticist and critics seek to determine a way to hierarchically rank works of art, similarly to eighteenth-century philosophers. Despite the attempt to do so, twenty-first-century critics have not been able to persuasively define and defend a standard of taste. Through examining Michael Clune’s book A Defense of Judgment with the support of other critics such as Alessandra Stradella, James Shelley, and Jarrold Levinson, I will examine twenty-first century attempts at defining and defending a standard of taste. Through this examination, I consider what it means to discuss a twenty-first-century standard of taste, and whether we should. Although contemporary society has created an environment that is incapable of setting a true standard of taste, attempting to discuss a standard of taste in the twenty-first century is necessary as a means of sociocultural critique. To consider a contemporary standard of taste is to consider the social and cultural hinderances of such a standard. Revealing social differences, inequalities, and injustices through various aesthetic experiences, aesthetic judgment as a practice must continue as it becomes a sociocultural reformative tool
Reluctant Transitions: Place and Post-Extraction Politics in Southeastern Ohio
No full textBased on a summer of ethnographic research in a subsection of Appalachian Ohio colloquially referred to as “The Valley,” this research challenges three narratives of this place that formulate a harmful Appalachian imaginary. The first narrative of industrycontrolled coal heritage is complicated by the way local people negotiate control over their own stories of coal and its existence outside of industry domain. The second narrative characterizes this as a space of extraction which is in tension with different social relations to varying types of energy – especially the discontinuity of the coal to fracking shift. The third narrative centers of the national consciousness’ homogenizing of Appalachians as the scapegoat for the success of “Make America Great Again” politics due to the backwardness and unsophisticated nature of this place, which is contrary to the very intricate process of political identity formation and its operations at a variety of scales. By acknowledging the problematic place and identity (re)productive work of these broad generalizations and restoring agency to these populations over their own stories, we begin to repair the harms inflicted on the region and take care in securing its future
Transparency and Trust in Crisis Communications: A Case Study of Two Pandemic Era HBCUs in North Carolina
No full textBetween March 2020 and March 2022, colleges and universities across the globe had to contend with a variety of crises led by the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. The epidemic presented challenges to safeguarding public health among students, faculty, staff, and their surrounding communities. Institutional spokespersons were responsible for communicating to internal and external stakeholders in response to the crisis.
The classification of U.S. higher education institutions that hold the federal designation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) confronted additional crises beyond COVID-19, including ransomware attacks that impacted IT infrastructure in 2021-22 and a series of racially motivated bomb threats in early 2022. At the HBCUs, institutional spokespersons were responsible for communicating to internal and external stakeholders in response to the multiple crises of the era. Their work as crisis communications professionals was critical in framing institutional response and brand perception in times of crisis and in times of normal operation, and that work remains so today.
This case study is both a brief historiography of three crises that HBCUs have faced, and a contemporary examination of two public HBCUs in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, their respective chief communications officers, and the communicators’ perceptions of their crisis communications work with stakeholders in response to multiple crises occurring between March 2020 and March 2022
Conceptions of Epic Heroism in Thomas May’s Continutation
No full textThomas May’s A Continuation of the Subiect of Lucan\u27s Historicall Poem till the Death of Iulius Cæser, continues Lucan’s creative vision of critiquing heroism. Despite his attempt at maintaining an indifferent world, May’s Continuation implicitly favors the heroism of the Pompeians.
Both Caesar and the Pompeians base their heroic conceptions on ideals found in Greek and Roman marital and national heroism. Caesar and his enemies believe that his victories in battle result from Fortune’s protection and approval, allowing Caesar to justify the ideals of traditional heroism. However, Fortune in the Continuation acts as an independent force, making these misinterpretations of Caesar’s victories. Caesar bolsters the values of traditional heroism through his reign over Rome, implying that tyrants promote these traditional values to justify their rule.
Initially, the Pompeians attempt to uphold the values of the Roman values of civic duty and stoicism, differentiating themselves from Caesar. Through misfortune, they discover that although Roman conceptions of heroism critique their Greek counterparts, their quest to oppose Caesar implicitly values marital conquest, honor, and glory. Their states of misfortune allow the Pompeians to understand the error within traditional conceptions of heroism and create an alternative model of heroism removed from the glory of martial conquest, reflecting the Neoplatonism of the time
The Tur Nout Effect: Challenging the Median Voter Theorem
No full textThe classical Median Voter Theorem (MVT) predicts that, in a two-party system with majority rule, candidates will converge toward the ideological center to capture the median voter. This logic, grounded in spatial models of political competition, assumes full voter participation and fails to account for the growing ideological polarization in modern democracies. This thesis reevaluates the MVT by incorporating probabilistic turnout into a utility-based model of voter behavior. It theorizes that turnout is shaped not only by ideological proximity but also by expressive motivations, including both strong affinity and strong aversion to candidates. A novel measure of turnout utility is developed to capture this dual effect, and the model is tested using Common Content Election Study (CCES) data from 2008 to 2020. Logistic regression results show that both motivation utility and polarization utility significantly predict turnout. Moreover, turnout increases at the ideological extremes, consistent with a U-shaped relationship between candidate-specific utility and participation. These findings suggest that ideological divergence may be a rational electoral strategy under conditions of polarized turnout, complicating the MVT’s centrist equilibrium and offering a revised understanding of candidate positioning in polarized political environments
From Proletariat to President:The Educational History of Dr. Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr.
No full textThe focus of my study is the life of Dr. Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr. as a Black activist educator. Using oral history interviews, autobiographical, and biographical resources, alongside a thorough examination of Sellers’ (1973) published works, speeches, and archival materials, I explore how his formative experiences and his experiences as a student activist during the 1954 - 1968 Civil Rights Movement shaped his understanding of education as a tool for liberation. Sellers was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He later became a faculty member in the History department and the chair of the African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. After his tenure at the University of South Carolina, Sellers later became the president of Voorhees University, a Historically Black College and University in Denmark, South Carolina.
More specifically, I examine how Sellers’ experiences as a student activist during the Civil Rights Movement shaped his understanding of education as a tool for social and political transformation. I also address the significance of education in Sellers’ life in the home with his family, in the community at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, and in grade school on Voorhees University campus. My work contributes to the broader literature that exists related to the enduring struggle for racial justice, educational equity, activism, and personal sacrifice. I address his ideas of individual agency and collective action, political activism, resilience and perseverance, family and community, the intersection of faith, race and politics, the evolution of Black consciousness, and the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
The Use of Threat Assessment Protocols in K-12 Schools on Disciplinary Outcomes for Students with Disabilities
No full textSchool personnel utilize the BTAM process to investigate threats of violence made by students through identifying, assessing, and managing potentially dangerous situations. This process is not intended to be disciplinary in nature, and previous studies conducted have shown that when a BTAM model is implemented, students who make threats toward others receive fewer suspensions or other types of removal as a result of the threat; however data on threat assessment outcomes has not been conducted in South Carolina. The purpose of this study was to examine administrators\u27 knowledge and perceptions of BTAM models and perceptions of discipline outcomes for students with disabilities who engage in threatening behavior that requires a completed threat assessment screening protocol. Participants included 130 K-12 school administrators from public school districts in South Carolina who completed an online survey. The results showed that nearly all the participants use a BTAM model, and the state guidelines are most commonly used in their schools. There was a statistically significant association between the use of the state model and disagreement that students who engage in threatening behavior should be suspended from school as a result of the incident. The training provided on the BTAM models used by participants was most commonly delivered through direct instruction with scenario-based activities, which aligns with the BTAM literature. The majority of participants reported that their training included information regarding the differences between threat assessment and disciplinary procedures; however, only half reported receiving training addressing bias, discrimination, or how to assess threats made by students with disabilities. The results showed a significant link between the type of BTAM training received and the perception of disciplinary decisions. Administrators who received direct instruction with scenario-based training were less likely to support suspension for moderate or high threats
Clusters in the Storm: Regional Economic Specialization Before and After Hurricane Harvey
No full textIn recent years, large-scale disaster events have dominated headlines. As the world faces an increasing number of such disasters, it is crucial to understand their impacts beyond immediate monetary losses. Disasters not only directly impact individuals and businesses but may also reshape the spatial patterns of the regional economy. Through a case study of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, this study examines how disaster events influence regional economic specialization patterns and contribute to uneven impacts across economic supersectors and geographies. Expanding on previous methodologies, this study incorporates temporal analysis tools to identify and investigate case studies of economic change. Using location quotients as a measure of economic specialization, I find that many supersectors—Natural Resources and Mining (NRM), Construction (CON), Manufacturing (MFG), Education and Health Services (EDH), and Leisure and Hospitality Services (LHS)—exhibited statistically significant spatial autocorrelation from 2016 to 2019. Other Services (OSV) showed statistically significant clustering every year except 2019. Additionally, the size and location of clusters varied over the study period, suggesting some degree of spatial and temporal fluidity in specialization patterns. The findings highlight that disaster events may contribute to temporary or lasting shifts in regional specialization depending on the nature of the supersector, offering a foundation for future research on economic resilience and recovery
Modeling the Interaction Between Pain and Movement: Insights from Brain Activation Patterns and Context-Dependent Emotion in Chronic Low Back Pain
No full textIn persons with chronic pain, fear or anxiety related to movement is a well-established model under the biopsychosocial framework that explains in part, the chronicity of symptoms commonly reported by individuals with chronic low back pain (cLBP). This dissertation aimed to further understand the link between the context-dependent emotion network in the brain and movement in two separate studies using brain functional MRI and autonomic nervous system indices. Aim 1sought to investigate the brain functional connectivity linking brain regions involved in context-dependent emotion and movement while cLBP participants moved their back inside the scanner by performing a modified trunk bridging task. Aim 2 involved recording autonomic nervous system responses (heart rate variability, skin conductance, and respiratory rate) while the cLBP participants visualized daily activities involving back movement. In Aim 1, during left and bilateral bridging tasks, we identified an altered functional connectivity (uncorrected false discovery rate) between several cortical context-dependent emotional and cortical or cerebellar sensorimotor brain regions in individuals with cLBP. Findings of an association between lower connectivity and clinical measures of pain modulation, and pain-related disability suggest less engagement of self-referential and cognitive control to sensorimotor networks. A lower functional connectivity of the insula to the SMA, was associated with clinical measures of hypervigilance that may explain a disintegration of the emotional awareness and motor planning network among individuals with cLBP. Aim 2 captured heart rate variability, skin conductance, and respiratory rate while the individuals with cLBP visualized themselves completing back movement that they perceived as either less harmful or more harmful when viewing images demonstrating back stresses. For this aim, we updated the functional tasks that stress the back and created a more ethnically and racially diverse PHODA picture series. Autonomic responses associated with visualization of daily back movements were used to understand the context-specific nature of anxiety. In contrast to our hypothesis, we did not observe any between-group differences or a task interaction effect in autonomic nervous system indices or subjective measures of anxiety between cLBP and HCs. However, exploratory analyses revealed a smaller increase in sympathetic response, lower parasympathetic response, and a slight dominance of sympathetic response over parasympathetic responses during the less-harmful block of PHODA images, evident immediately after nature visualization. These studies provide preliminary evidence of support for central nervous system changes in persons with cLBP that suggest a role for fear or anxiety related to trunk movements