Master of Science / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Kevin R. Roberts / International college students are becoming a sizable part of the overall college student population in American universities. Studies show that these students come to the United States (U.S) with food habits that could be in variance with the U.S. food safety norms. While food safety in the U.S. is among the safest in the world, foodborne illness has remained a growing concern. Food experts are showing increasing concern about how food habits associated with cultural and ethnic norms are impacting basic food safety practices in the U.S. While minimal research regarding food safety has been conducted with college students in general, no studies have sought to understand food safety practices among international college students. This study investigated self-reported food safety practices of international college students. Specific objectives included: determine international college students’ knowledge regarding basic food safety principles, evaluate international college students’ belief towards food safety, and examine international students’ current food safety practices. The target population was international college students at Kansas State University. An online survey system was used to administer the questionnaires. The respondents were allowed two weeks to complete the questionnaires. To facilitate a higher response rate, two email reminders were sent, the first after one week and another two days prior to the expiration date. SPSS (version 17.0) was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed to understand the nature of data and provide characteristics of international college students in the study. Independent Samples t-tests were used to examine differences between demographic characteristics. A One-way ANOVA was used to identify differences in food safety knowledge and food handling practices among different ethnic groups regarding food safety. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure association between variables. The majority of the respondents did not answer correctly questions related to cooking foods adequately and keeping foods at safe temperatures. The study suggests that most participants had beliefs that enhanced good safety practices. Respondents rarely practiced using a thermometer to determine correct temperatures of cooked foods or using separate cutting boards when preparing raw and ready-to-eat foods. They also reported using towels that were available to others to dry their hands. No significant differences were found between training and self-reported food safety handling practices.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur oro för klimatet påverkar konsumenters köpintentioner av återvunna kläder. På grund av pågående klimatförändringar måste populationen ändra sitt konsumtionsbeteende mot en mer miljömässigt hållbar strategi. Återvunna kläder ger ett mindre avtryck på klimatet eftersom det krävs mindre energi att producera och genererar mindre avfall. Tidigare forskning visar att män och kvinnor har olika köpintentioner när det kommer till miljömässigt hållbara kläder. Med utgångspunkt från tidigare forskningsfynd kommer denna studie även att undersöka om kön är en faktor som påverkar till vilken grad respondenterna oroar sig över klimatet. En kvantitativ datainsamlingsmetod används genom en webbenkät. Resultaten från en korrelations- och regressionsanalys visar att oro för klimatet påverkar köpintentionen av återvunna kläder. Resultatet visar även att kön bär en betydande roll i hur oroade respondenterna är över klimatet. Denna studie bekräftar teorin om planerat beteende och forskningen visar hur beteendemässiga övertygelser påverkar intentioner och därmed beteenden. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how environmental concerns affect consumers' purchase intentions of recycled clothing. Because of ongoing climate change, the population must change their consumption behavior towards a more sustainable approach. Recycled clothing has a smaller impact on the environment since less energy is needed in the production and it gives less waste. Previous research shows that men and women have different purchase intentions when it comes to sustainable clothing. Because of findings from previous research, this study will examine if gender is a factor that affects environmental concerns. A quantitative collection method is applied through an online survey. The result from a correlation- and regression analysis shows that environmental concern affects purchase intentions of recycled clothing. Findings from the study also included that gender plays a role in how concerned the respondents were for the environment. The study validates the theory of planned behavior model and the research displays how behavioral beliefs affect intentions and therefore behaviors.

In this thesis, the theory of rational irrationality is used to explore the incentives behind seemingly irrational beliefs held by a large part of the contemporary American society towards anthropogenic climate change. Applying causal analysis, three questions are answered: "is it rationally irrational for people to be indifferent towards climate change?" "Are Americans inherently more likely than others to hold irrational beliefs about global issues such as climate change?" If so, "is this phenomenon rooted in certain values that constitute the American identity?" The author focuses on specific "American values" and uses statistics and recent empirical studies to find correlations and causality between those values and the exhibited behavior of individuals, while discussing its possible causes and implications. The study concludes that the root cause of irresponsibility of the American citizen towards climate change is a lack of social mechanisms rewarding individuals for holding epistemologically accurate beliefs. The author then proposes a set of general measures to be prioritized in order to improve social reward mechanisms in the American society. If implemented, those measures should be able to effectively enforce epistemic rationality in the U.S. political debate, which is desirable...