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Collection Description
Collection of student theses and dissertations from as early as 1939, but mainly from 2010 to present.
Pages
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- A content analysis of Kickstarter: The influence of framing and reward motivations on campaign success
- Crowdfunding has recently become a popular method used by today's entrepreneurs to gain funding for their projects, while avoiding risky bank loans. The leading crowdfunding platform in the United States, Kickstarter.com, will guide the research into this newly emerging area of study. A content analysis of the site will be performed to gain an understanding into the implications message framing has in determining the success or failure of Kickstarter campaigns. Additionally, the research will seek to uncover to what extent conditional cooperation has on influencing the amount of funding obtained by Kickstarter campaigns, resulting in their ultimate success or failure.
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- A content analysis of black thinspiration on social media sites
- Previous literature argues that social media sites may encourage women to engage in social comparison, resulting in body image dissatisfaction. Prior studies also suggests that black women are less likely to be negatively influenced by mainstream ideals of femininity because they are more likely to adopt more flexible beauty standards that often reject the thin female body ideal. However, there are studies that argue black women are not immune from adopting the same cultural standards of beauty as their white counterparts. The existence of black women’s thinspiration on social networking sites is an example of how mainstream cultural ideals of female body control influence black women. This content analysis of black thinspiration on Instagram finds that black women conform to and resist gender behavior displays while attempting to embrace diversity within black womanhood. Blackthinspo can be seen as a space where black women embrace mainstream depictions of femininity and expand these ideals to include the thin black female body as acceptable, beautiful, and feminine., San Diego State University
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- A content analysis of parent-initiated special education due process hearing requests
- Due Process Hearings are one of three formal dispute resolution procedures provided to parents of children with disabilities by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). Whereas students receiving special education typically comprise approximately 14% of student enrollment, litigation tied to special education disputes accounts for the majority of litigation for most school districts. Due process can have both positive and negative effects. Engagement can be costly to both school districts and parents and result in feelings of distrust which harm parent-school partnerships, critical to the development of Individual Education Programs (IEPs). Due process engagement and subsequent rulings by the courts has helped to shape policy and improve the quality of education programs for students with disabilities. Due to the negative effects, it is generally agreed that due process should be avoided whenever possible. This dissertation examines student factors, school factors, and allegations most often cited in 176 parent-initiated due process hearing (DPH) requests to help school leaders identify predictive variables for due process and programs in need of evaluation and improvement. Keywords: IDEA, dispute, litigation, due process, special education, parent- initiated, hearing requests, procedural safeguards, San Diego State University
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- A convergent explicit groundwater model using online computation
- An online groundwater model was developed using an explicit formulation of the two-dimensional (x-y) diffusion equation of flow in porous media, applicable to a homogeneous isotropic aquifer, together with the scripting language PHP. The satisfaction of stability and convergence requires that the model's cell Reynolds number D = 1. The model has excellent mass conservation properties, being particularly suited for online learning of groundwater flow modeling and behavior. The model was tested under four scenarios: A, B, C and D. Scenario A assesses aquifer recovery under a permeable boundary, following depletion by pumping. Scenario B assesses aquifer depletion as a consequence of pumping, under a permeable boundary. Scenario C assesses aquifer recovery under an impermeable boundary, following depletion by pumping. Scenario D assesses aquifer depletion as a consequence of pumping, under an impermeable boundary. The permeable hot-start test (scenario A) converged to the steady-equilibrium baseline condition after 15.85 yr. The permeable cold-start test (scenario B) converged to a steady-equilibrium cone of depression after 12.43 yr. The impermeable hot-start test (scenario C) converged to a steady-equilibrium non-baseline condition after 8.34 yr. The impermeable cold-start test (scenario D) properly simulated the linear depletion of the aquifer., San Diego State University
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- A coordinated MAC protocol for wireless network
- This thesis proposes a coordinated MAC protocol for wireless local area networks. Medium access layer plays an important role in better utilization of physical communication resources. This study proposes a coordinated MAC protocol which supports both asynchronous and isochronous communication over 802.11 like wireless channels. The proposed MAC protocol enables fully scheduled communication over the channel enabling quality of service over wireless channels. In addition the proposed network supports peer to peer mesh like communication where the data packets are communicated between nodes directly as opposed to the current 802.11 implementations where packets are bounced off the access points therefore appearing twice on the channel. The MAC layer developed is implemented in OPNET and comparative analysis to state of the art IEEE 802.11 MAC layer is studied both analytically and through OPNET simulations.
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- A corpus study of ethnic slurs and derogatory language across Reddit and YouTube with Sentiment considered
- This study sought to create a specialized corpus to determine the frequency of an ethnic slur and animal referents for African Americans, as well as derogatory language aimed at law enforcement agents found on Reddit and YouTube; specifically, when the language inspiring event is ethnically charged and is mirrored on both platforms. Comments inspired by the deaths of unarmed suspects after interactions with law enforcement agents were chosen, and a corpus of 1,883,703 words was created using Enthought Canopy, Python Reddit API Wrapper, and YouTube Comment Scrapper. Antconc was then used to determine the frequency of the target language and next, the online platform, ethnicity of the deceased, gender of the deceased, and the ethnicity of the law enforcement agent were factored in a SPSS Poisson regression test to determine significance. The results indicated that the online platform (YouTube), the ethnicity of the deceased (African American), and the gender of the deceased (female) were predictors of a higher frequency of the ethnic slur and animal referents for African Americans. However, the frequency of derogatory language aimed at law enforcement agents was shown to be higher when the deceased was Caucasian and the agent was Hispanic. Finally, Sentiment Analyzer determined that despite the significant frequency of the target derogatory language, individual YouTube comment sections were classified as neutral in semantic orientation; while individual Reddit comment sections, despite having fewer instances of the target derogatory language, were deemed semantically negative.
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- A corpus-driven, keyword-centered approach to lexical bundles in grade comments
- The present study investigates the lexical and phraseological resources associated with the communicative functions of grade comments written by a group of teachers in the context of a Southern California English language program. This study seeks to establish a core vocabulary and structure for this text type, thereby reducing the overall demands associated with its composition. The study takes a corpus-driven and keyword-centered approach to the lexicogrammatical characterization of a corpus of grade comments totaling over three million words. The corpus contains five sub-corpora, each corresponding to one of the five different institutionally-established letter grades: A, B, C, FP, and F. Keywords for each letter grade were obtained through the comparison of one letter grade sub-corpus against the remaining sub-corpora. The keyword results show that the core vocabulary of each letter grade consists of words commonly used in the U.S. grading system and graded subareas of different classes as described in their corresponding institutional syllabi. The top 20 most-key keywords were then used to qualify lexical bundles found in each subcorpus. The novel methodology adopted in this study has led to the identification of lexical bundles that correspond to the core communicative functions of the grade comments. Furthermore, this particular approach to lexical bundles has suggested a possible connection, at least in grade comments, between keyword-containing lexical bundles and framing devices for generic features, specifically opening and closing moves. The keyword-centered approach requires additional exploration, but it may have an application for researchers taking a corpus approach to genre analysis. The relationship between keywords, lexical bundles, communicative functions, and generic moves also seems to be a worthy area for further investigation., San Diego State University
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- A criminal justice comparative: Post-9/11 anti-terrorism legislation within legal traditions
- The purpose of this study is to identify and compare international anti-terrorism legislation which occurred as a direct result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. More specifically, the study identifies anti-terror legislation which was passed in various countries, each with different legal traditions, and analyzes the comparisons. The study includes the five major legal traditions. Only of the countries subject to the selection for analysis is on the United States' "State Sponsor of Terror" list. All other nations are allied states in the Global War on Terror. This thesis finds that certain nations were more active in passing legislation, certain nations passed no legislation immediately attributable to 9/11, and anti-terrorism legislation in different nations have similar topics despite political differences. Additionally, this thesis discovered that anti-terrorism legislation greatly varies from nation to nation. The implications are that September 11, 2001, caused nations from all legal traditions to examine the weaknesses in their nations' legislation and pursue efforts to eliminate them.
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- A critical analysis of the private language argument
- The Private Language Argument takes many different forms. With this in mind, it is very difficult to derive general conclusions regarding the possibility of a private language that would apply to every argument. While there are many different private language arguments, each one aims at the common conclusion that a private language is not possible. One of the goals of this work is to set the parameters for establishing the possibility of a private language, outside language describing sensations, by examining three different facets of language use. The three different facets I present are language describing sensations, the criteria for correctly using words and expressions, and Wittgenstein's paradox. With respect to language describing sensations, I apply this facet of language to the private language arguments of Rudolf Carnap, Otto Neurath, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In Chapters 2 and 3, respectively, I effectively conclude that due to the nature of this kind of language, it is appropriately categorized as private. These conclusions drive a wedge between language describing sensations and language not describing sensations. It is here I conclude that a private language is possible with respect to language describing sensations. In Chapter 4, I examine Wittgenstein's requirements for the correct use of a word or phrase and conclude, with the help of A.J. Ayer, that Wittgenstein's criteria for correctly using a word or a phrase are too strong. Finally I examine the most difficult obstacle for an advocate of a private language, the Wittgensteinean-Kripkean paradox. I effectively conclude that the most problematic obstacle for an advocate of a private language is the Wittgensteinean-Kripkean paradox; the reader is left with the task to decide how vicious this paradox is. This work is best described as embryotic; the conclusions derived here are meant to set the framework and the parameter for a more well rounded discussion for the possibility of a private language., San Diego State University
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- A critical examination and evaluation of the structure and stratigraphy in the downtown San Diego area, California
- A trench was excavated, logged, and interpreted across projections of the Rose Canyon Fault Zone in the downtown area of San Diego, California. The trench traversed 930 m (3150 ft), crossing mapped projections of the Coronado, Old Town, Rose Canyon, and San Diego Bay faults. In examining the trench exposures, a normal fault, with an apparent strike-slip component, termed the San Diego Fault, was observed on Broadway between Front Street and First Avenue in downtown San Diego. The San Diego Fault strikes N5°W, dips 60°-70°E and has a vertical separation of 10 m (33 ft) based on faunal and stratigraphic correlations within sediments that have been dated to be 360,000 to 560,000 ± 75,000 years old using amino acid racemization techniques. A paleosol that has subsequently developed on these sediments has been vertically offset a minimum of 60 cm (24 in.) and has been estimated to be 75,000 to 128,000 years old based on its pedogenic development. A 20,000-year old palesol overlies the fault and displays no evidence of offset. The San Diego Fault appears to be contemporary with the extensional stress environment found within the San Diego area. There was no readily discernible evidence of faulting elsewhere in the trench, suggesting that the major north-south faults projected through the downtown area do not offset Middle to Upper Pleistocene sedimentary rocks., San Diego State University