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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-231).

"Sedentary lifestyles are ubiquitous in modern societies. Sitting, watching television and using the computer are examples of sedentary behaviors that are currently common worldwide. Many research results show that the length of time that a person is sedentary is linked with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. Determining how best to motivate people to become more active is not only necessary but also imperative. The electronic pedometer, as a proven device to increase physical activity, has been widely accepted by consumers for decades. As smartphones are functionally able to run accurate pedometer apps, we explore the potential of leveraging context-aware (e.g. location, identity, activity and time) smartphone application—more advanced pedometer—to help people mitigate sedentary lifestyle. The smartphone application we developed, “On11”, intelligently tracks people’s physical activities and identifies sedentary behaviors. With the knowledge it learns from the users, On11 provides recommendations based on users’ geographic patterns. Our study consists of four steps: (1) a pre-survey that helps us comprehend people’s views on physical activity, how people use their smartphones, and how smartphone applications may help them to be more active, (2) a large scale Twitter study (over 3 months, analyzed 929,825 running-related tweets) that determines how difficult it is for people to keep performing the most popular exercise—running, (3) a 2-week trial of our smartphone app which promotes an easier exercise—walking, and (4) a post-survey for subjects who participated in the app trial to validate if the app works as expected."

Measurement and evaluation in the publicly funded arts sector is a contested area. On the one hand measurement is constantly demanded by funders to justify the value of art projects, on the other hand, there is a lack of consensus on how it should be done and whether effective evaluation is even possible in the arts. In this context, there is widespread resistance to practices of evaluation within the sector. Previous Cultural Policy research has focussed on what cultural value is, and whether it is desirable, or even possible, to measure value at all in the arts. In contrast, there is relatively little research into the experience of those at the heart of the measurement: the arts practitioners working in settings where evaluation is required and how evaluation regimes affect their practices. There is a similar lack of research into the role of the organisation as an intermediary within the interpretation of value and measurement. Using a longitudinal, ethnographic case study research, the thesis examines how artists and other workers in a cultural organization, respond to expectations of evaluation and shape their practices as a result of those expectations. The thesis adapts the institutional logics perspective frame, creating a sector specific frame to explore how logics of the family, state, corporation, community, religion, profession and market all operate within evaluation. Seen through this lens, the artists’ responses to evaluation are shown to be a response to intersecting and clashing logics. This approach gives a richer understanding of artists’ responses, and also offers a new frame for considering other challenges within the sector. Using this understanding, I develop an alternative approach to arts evaluation, based on evaluation as a practice, not an output, and taking into account the multiple logics in action and arising from artists’ own valuation practices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-111). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-111). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2008. / Thesis directed by Ke-Hai Yuan for the Department of Psychology. "April 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-107).

Mississippi residents were surveyed to determine how The Food Factor and Extension brands were impacting their intent to change behavior. The Food Factor is a weekly Extension mass media program that communicates research-based information about food, nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyles. The respondents were split into viewer and non-viewer categories. Viewers were asked about their perceptions of the show and their nutrition-related behaviors. Non-viewers were assigned to a branded or non-branded episode of The Food Factorto determine their perceptions and to see if branding was having an impact on their behavior. The study found that although The Food Factor was perceived positively, it was uncertain if the brand was having meaningful effects on its viewers. Recommendations include future studies surrounding the use of branding in social marketing programs, studying other mass media programs in other states, and further evaluation of The Food Factor brand.

Child care providers in Mississippi are required by the Mississippi Health Department to obtain food manager’s training and certification. The TummySafe© program satisfies this requirement and is offered in a self-paced computer delivered version and a traditional classroom version. This research explores participant changes in attitude and self-reported behaviors in the two methods of curriculum delivery as well as the correlation of knowledge change with attitude and self-reported behavior change. A quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design was used. Attitude change was not significantly different in the two methods. Traditional participants reported a higher change in self-reported behaviors than computer delivered participants. Both attitude and self-reported behavior change were positively correlated with knowledge gain.

The current study employed an ABA design with a control group to assess the effectiveness of a commitment strategy in reducing meat consumption among university students (n=70). Participants who were randomly assigned to the commitment condition did not consume significantly less meat than participants in the control group, t (48)=.74, p=.47. 79% (n=19) of participants in the control group decreased their meat consumption from baseline to treatment phase, compared with 96% (n=27) of participants in the treatment group. Additionally, when both groups were collapsed, all participants reduced meat consumption from baseline to treatment phase t (51)=8.6, p<.001. Participants' scores on the Motivation Towards the Environment Scale, a measure of self-determined motivation towards environmental behavior, were not significant predictors of meat consumption behavior before or during the intervention, t(67)= -.26, p=.80, t(51)=.53, p=.60. Implications and directions for future research are discussed within the paper. / Master of Science