While many previous studies indicated that the overall number of school string/orchestra programs in the United States has increased, string/orchestra programs have been substantially underrepresented in school music curricula. In addition, the programs have been inequitably distributed geographically, and have tended to conform particular trends in their characteristics and demographics of string teachers and students. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics and trends in the profile of current school string programs. Also, by investigating the inception of the programs, this study aimed to identify practical ways in creating a school string program. A 37-item questionnaire was developed to collect data. The participants were string/orchestra teachers who were teaching in public schools and members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). A total of 130 teachers participated in this study. The result of this study indicated that string programs remain concentrated in suburban areas. Additionally, while string student population has become more diverse and reflective of the overall student population, the racial/ethnic makeup of string teachers is still predominantly White. This study also revealed that the idea of creating a new string program was most often initiated by either school music teachers or outreach program instructors/directors, and the first step typically involves discussing the idea with school administrators.

The purpose of this quantitative study is to assess if perceptions of academic and institutional support as well as demographic factors, predict intention to return to school amongst online first-generation college students enrolled at traditional higher educational institutions. To complete the causal-comparative study, the researcher analyzes data from students who completed the National Survey on Student Engagement during the Spring of 2018. Before data was analyzed, a literature review was conducted. The reviewed literature found that despite increasing popularity, retention rates between in-person and online courses vary (Bawa, 2016; Bacon, 2016; Cho & Tobias, 2016). Furthermore, past empirical assessments have provided a deep understanding of FGCS's intention to return to physical campuses (Adams & McBrayer, 2020). However, academic literature investigating the impact of academic and institutional support and demographic factors to predict intention to return to school in FGCS at online college settings is absent.Participants in this study were in their first (n = 141, 58%) and second years (n = 69, 28.4%) of college. The independent variables within this study include perceptions of academic and institutional support and demographic variables. The dependent variable is retention and will be the student’s answer to the question, “Do you intend to return to this institution next year?” with answers dichotomized as “yes” or “no/not sure.” The findings from this study indicate that perceptions of academic and institutional support, as well as participant age, significantly predict online FGCS intent to re-enroll in their current institution. Additionally, the data showed FGCS satisfaction levels with the entire online educational experience.

Gun violence has increased significantly in Sweden in the past years. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate whether the number of shootings has an impact on the residents' sense of perceived security in Sweden's metropolitan areas, with the control variables of the socio-demographic characteristics gender, age and education level. Previous research has investigated the relationship between perceived security and general crime, where the results show higher insecurity in relation to crime. In addition, individuals living in a socially vulnerable area characterized by low informal control experience higher insecurity than those who do not live in these areas. The study is based on the theories of social disorganization theory and the theory of ontological security. A multiple regression analysis was used where the data consisted of statistics on the number of shootings in Sweden and data from the Samhälle, Opinion and Media (SOM) survey from the year 2021. The result showed, in the full model, that there is an association between the number of shootings and perceived security, when shootings increase, so does insecurity. Regarding the geographical classification, residents in the metropolitan areas showed lower perceived insecurity in comparison to the rest of Sweden in relation to the number of shootings. Women and the low educated experienced higher insecurity than men and the highly educated respectively, while older age only had a small impact on the insecurity in relation to crime. A conclusion that can be drawn based on the study's results is that the number of shootings affects the perceived security negatively when several explanatory variables are examined together. Moreover, there are socio-demographic characteristics that affect the experience of security. Thus, future research should continue to investigate how the number of shootings can affect perceived security.

This thesis will focus on split ticket voting. Split ticket voting refers to an aspect of voting behavior where the individual will cast votes for different political parties for different offices. Through the development of countless theories and utilizing data, political scientists have managed to shed some light as to why an individual may engage in split-ticket voting. However, many of these studies have been too narrow in their focus, for instance, relying on a specific election without taking into account some major variables that provide the foundation for voting behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide scholars with an idea of what characteristics exist most commonly among split-ticket voters compared with straight-ticket voters. What variables work together to cause an individual to engage in split ticket voting? Specifically, this thesis will examine the contribution of variables in explaining ticket splitting. Despite studies of the causes of split-ticket voting, the field is still unclear as to what causes an individual to engage in split-ticket voting. What individual variables cause an individual to engage in ticket splitting?

Objective – Views surrounding COVID-19 are divided. The objective of this thesis is to investigate if views surrounding COVID-19 can be inferred based on college-level demographics. I explore the views of undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. Methods – A link to the questionnaire created through Qualtrics was sent out to university leaders asking them to distribute it accordingly among their respective undergraduate populations. Students (N=149) responded to questions about issues related to COVID-19, college-level demographics, and political attitudes. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analysis. Results – Students still viewed COVID-19 as a serious issue (79%). (44%) were concerned about issues other than the direct health implications and (28%) viewed the public response as an overreaction. Seniors were more likely to say it is important to know others’ vaccination status. Those in the College of Engineering/Computer Science were most supportive of Trump’s handling of COVID-19 and viewed the pandemic as less serious. They were also less supportive of vaccine mandates and less likely to change their behavior than Arts and Humanities students. Only the CDC received majority support as a helpful source of information about COVID-19. Conclusions – Further research needs to be undertaken using a larger and more representative sample to better understand how college-level demographics interact with political behavior. The CDC should be the chief source of information regarding public health. And schools should address the different concerns students have about the pandemic while also making sure students who disagree with public health measures have avenues to express their opinion.

Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus; hereinafter, tortoise) is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the western portion of its range. Across the species’ range, approximately 70 % of potential habitat is privately owned, and these properties are often managed primarily for timber production. However, tortoise ecology on private, working forest landscapes remains poorly understood. To provide a better understanding of tortoise response to active forest management, I evaluated population demographics, movement ecology, and habitat selection of two tortoise populations: former Ben’s Creek Wildlife Management Area (BC) in Washington Parish, Louisiana and Perry County Gopher Tortoise Management Unit (PCGTMU) in Perry County, Mississippi. At BC, tortoises were generally clustered along utility rights-of- way and roadways. At PCGTMU, tortoises were clustered within forest stands with high quality soils. Low recruitment has been documented at BC for the last 25 years. However, PCGTMU appears to have a stable population with active recruitment.

The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to examine teachers’ beliefs toward in-grade retention in a K-2 school. This study focused on how teachers acquire beliefs regarding grade retention, and their knowledge of research regarding the effectiveness of retention. Witmer, Hoffman and Nottis (2004) contend that teacher beliefs toward grade retention may not be based on research, but on peer influence, past practice, or administrative policy. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to examine teacher beliefs in a K- 2 school. Quantitative data were collected through the Teacher Opinion Survey (TOS) and Personal Experiences and Retention Practices (PERP). A total of ten K-2 teachers volunteered to complete the survey instruments. Additionally, six K-2 teachers and the school principal were interviewed to collect qualitative data. Data were analyzed to triangulate the findings. This study concluded that teachers continue to retain students as a remedy for academic failure, contrary to what some researchers like Shepard and Smith (1989), who decried that schools were continuing the practice of retention despite research findings that indicated little or no academic achievement is gained though retention. Findings further indicated that teachers disagreed that retention failed to improve achievement, failed to inspire students to buckle down and behave better, and failed to develop students’ social adjustment and self-concept.

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