Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item HUMAN FLOURISHING: VALUES AND VIRTUES(2023) Chung, Eun Ae; Lin, Jing; Klees, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the quest to understand what human flourishing is, while ancient philosophers have all pointed to virtues as a vital component, today, they have been notably left out of the conversation. The purpose of this study is to explore the possible ways the virtues of Justice, Humanity and Transcendence could be potentially understood through the analysis of individuals’ values. The variations of these understandings are examined by country and world regions. Furthermore, to provide more context, the study seeks to determine the relationships between these virtues and individual sociodemographic factors, such as sex, education level and socioeconomic status, as well as country level factors, such as GDP per capita, the average years of schooling at the country level, and gender inequality. Finally, the study also examines the relationship between the virtues and subjective well-being (happiness and life satisfaction), which is claimed to be an important component of human flourishing. In doing so, the overarching goal of this research is to contribute to the growing dialogue on human flourishing and make a case for how human flourishing could be understood in various ways, depending on individual values and context. This exploratory quantitative research study highlights patterns and trends of values in relation to the three virtues as well as exceptions. Furthermore, the findings of the study show the importance of acknowledging differing definitions of human flourishing as well as including context and environment of individuals when discussing an important topic as human flourishing.Item Gender-Specific Significance of Family Transitions on Well-being and Work Attitudes(2022) Hara, Yuko; Chen, Feinian; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Marriage and parenthood are major life events for many individuals. Marriage is linked with improved health partly through spousal influence on health-related behaviors including diet. Previous theoretical and qualitative research suggests a link between family transitions and meal patterns. Yet empirical research using a nationally representative sample to examine the association is scarce. And the issues of whether spousal influence on health-related behaviors can be extended to other types of romantic relationships, such as cohabitation, as well as whether the transition to parenthood is linked with changes in meal patterns, have not been adequately researched. Additionally, research examining whether the health benefits that marriage brings can be universally found for both genders across countries is limited. Family life events carry other consequences, too. Prior research also suggests that family life often has a negative impact on attitudes toward paid work, particularly for women. Past research, however, primarily relied on small sample interview data or cross-sectional data, leaving unclear how work attitudes change during adulthood. This dissertation examines the impact of different family life events such as marriage, cohabitation, and parenthood on changes in subjective well-being, health-related behavior (meal patterns), and attitudes towards work by gender. I focus on adults in their prime work and family life stages in the U.S. and Japan. By using fixed effects models and panel data, I aimed to estimate the average effect of family life events within individuals over time. I found that entering a romantic union reduces meal skipping, but the type of union matters differently for men and women. I also found that the transition to parenthood discourages women’s regular meal patterns, suggesting family ties do not necessarily facilitate healthy behaviors. In the highly gendered social context of Japan, contrary to previous findings from Western industrialized countries, I found no evidence indicating that marriage is associated with self-rated health for women. Additionally, I found that the transition to parenthood is negatively linked with men’s self-rated health. In terms of work attitudes, even when controlling for various job characteristics, I found that both marriage and parenthood are negatively associated with enthusiasm toward work achievement, only for women in Japan. These findings highlight the importance of country context and reveal that entry into marriage triggers shifts in women’s work attitudes even before having children.Item POPULATION DYNAMICS OF EASTERN OYSTERS (CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA) IN THE CHOPTANK RIVER COMPLEX, MARYLAND, DURING 1989 - 2015(2017) Damiano, Matthew; Wilberg, Michael J; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery in the Choptank River Complex (CRC) supports a large fraction of Maryland’s harvest. The CRC is also host to some of the largest oyster restoration projects in the world. Yet the relative effects of harvest and restoration on the population dynamics of oysters in the CRC have not been assessed. We developed stage-based population models for each region of the CRC in AD Model Builder using dredge survey and harvest data provided by Maryland Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 2015. Natural mortality was low during 2004-2015 potentially due to increased resistance to the disease, Dermo. Recruitment was greatest in the late 1990s, 2010, and 2012, which caused an increase in abundance. These models will serve as the foundation of a simulation model that will be used to help fishery stakeholders evaluate management and restoration options in the CRC.Item Foreign Military Interventions in Civil Conflicts, 1946-2002(2014) Eralp Wolak, Pelin; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Empirical evidence shows that foreign military interventions in civil conflicts on the side of the government or opposition are frequent and they have significant political and economic impacts on both the intervening states and the target states. While many recent quantitative studies have examined the impact of foreign military interventions on the dynamics and outcomes of civil conflicts, similar attention has not been paid to the factors that motivate foreign powers to intervene in intrastate disputes. Most of the theoretical insight on the causes of military intervention comes from earlier qualitative studies that analyze the foreign policy decision making of interveners in detail. In contrast, the small amount of quantitative research conducted on this topic focuses more on the attributes of the civil conflict that attract foreign military intervention. The purpose of this study is to analyze the causes of military interventions from a foreign policy decision making perspective which has been neglected in current quantitative studies. In order to identify the factors that motivate state leaders to use military intervention as a foreign policy instrument, this dissertation examines the international and domestic sources of foreign policy decision making through a modified realist framework. Hypotheses are tested against a novel dataset that includes both actual and potential interveners in all civil conflicts between 1946 and 2002. Sub-sample analyses are also conducted for major powers, democracies and autocracies to understand the relative importance of international, domestic and contextual factors on the intervention decisions of different types of states. The empirical findings show that the strategic significance of the conflict state, interventions by rivals or allies, and domestic considerations of leaders play a more critical role than the attributes of the civil conflict when foreign powers are deciding whether and on whose side to intervene in a civil conflict. While these empirical findings provide an improved understanding of the rationale behind foreign military interventions in civil conflicts, this dissertation also contributes theoretically to the current literature by bringing back the much needed foreign policy decision making perspective into the study of interventions.Item An Examination of High School Graduates Who Identify Teachers as Influential in their Choice of College(2011) Mozie-Ross, Yvette Denise; Cabrera, Alberto; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This exploratory study contributes to what is known about the college choice process by providing a quantitative comparative analysis to determine how high school graduates who identify teachers as influential in their choice of college differ from graduates who do not. Specifically, this study answers the following research question: How do students who identify teachers as influential in their choice of college differ from those who do not in terms of academic and demographic characteristics and college choice outcomes? Perna's college choice model served as the conceptual framework for this study. The model posits that college choice is ultimately based on students' comparison of the benefits and costs of enrolling. Assessments of the benefits and costs are shaped by four contextual layers: 1) habitus, 2) school and community, 3) higher education and 4) social economic and policy. Data for this exploratory study were drawn from 17,734 high school graduates' responses to the College Board's 2006 Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ). Cross-tabulation and descriptive and inferential analyses were used to characterize and compare student respondents who indicated the opinions of high school teachers as "very important" in their choice of college, and those who do not, in terms of the core and contextual college choice variables identified in Perna's conceptual model. Pearson's Chi-square was used to test the independence of the variables while Cramer's V correlation served as a post-estimation test to assess the relative strength of the association of the variables. A z-test analysis was also performed to compare the differences in proportion for the two populations under consideration. The study concluded that high school graduates who identified teachers as influential in their choice of college differed from those who did not in terms of academic background, demographic background and college choice outcomes. Specifically, in terms of academic and demographic background, the study found that high school teachers are most influential among students who are 1) non-White, 2) less competitive academically (i.e. grade average and admissions test scores), and 3) come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. No differences were found in gender and type of high school attended. In terms of college choice outcomes, the study concluded that teachers were most influential among students who 1) attend schools in their home state, 2) attend less competitive institutions (i.e. "masters college and university" or "specialty school" Carnegie Classifications), and 3) attend schools where the perceived emphasis is on quality of students' academic experience, opportunities for involvement outside the classroom and campus aesthetics. No differences were found in institutional control (public versus private). The findings have implications for future research and future practice including institutional marketing and recruitment strategies and teacher preparation programs.