2020 Abstracts

Mattei, Dustin; Angell, Emma; Truman, Savanah; Wood, Kyle; Holiday, Pam; Gonzales, Veronica; Price, Ashton (Dixie State University)
Faculty Advisor: Oxley, Robert (Dixie State university, Applied Sociology)

This presentation analyzes the teaching and acceptance of burnout within the societal contract for children in the Washington County school district in Utah. This study, from the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at Dixie State University, as part of the Quality of Life Initiative, seeks to evaluate burnout among children ages 5-18 in the Washington County School District. Through the literary review, it is suggested that our society creates a culture of burnout, which is taught and accepted at young ages. Such teaching creates a life-long subconscious contract of acceptance of burnout among affected members within our society. Some symptoms of burnout can include; anxiety, depression, headaches, chronic stress, insomnia, forgetfulness, etc. Furthermore, seeking help for burnout symptoms has been frowned upon by society, until recently with the emergence of Wellness Rooms. This response to burnout among children in Washington County School District shows that acceptance has been established. The ISR team has developed a survey instrument currently in circulation at Dixie State University. We expect our data to correlate with the preparatory research conducted by the Institute of Social Research.

Candiloro, Taelor (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Glass-Coffin, Bonnie (College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Department)

Over the past ten years, a growing national discourse about the issue of campus sexual assault has led to an increase in quantitative studies that analyze its prevalence on campus as well as the effectiveness of campus policies that have been institutionalized in order to address the systemic issue. Policies that have emerged to describe sexual assault may use specialized vocabulary that appears distant from the terms used by survivors when self-identifying, which may result in unintended consequences when policies are implemented. Using Utah State University's campus resources as a site of inquiry, this study examines language used by Title IX officers at Utah State University as they describe sexual and interpersonal violence among themselves, when addressing the student body, and among sexual assault survivors. Developed as part of a course in Ethnographic Methods at Utah State University, this qualitative study attempts to provide insight into this dynamic. Through a mixed-methods approach including ethnographic interviews, auto-ethnographic accounts of the author's experiences attending and interacting with various campus institutions, and analyses of contemporary tools of data collection, a network of identity emerges that contributes to a better understanding of how sexual assault policies might be improved to articulate alongside survivor experiences.

Goodrich, Ellie; Seaboch, Melissa (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Seaboch, Melissa (University of Utah, Anthropology)

Alouatta palliata (the mantled howler monkey) form large, cohesive multimale multifemale groups. Within these groups there are prominent male dominance hierarchies and both males and females disperse from natal groups. Although A. palliata groups are cohesive, interactions among individuals are rare. Spatial relationships in primate groups aren't random and are often telling of the underlying social structure within a group. This project compares three adult dyads in the A. palliata groups of La Selva Biological station, Costa Rica, to examine group cohesion and if there is variation in spatial patterns between the dyads. The dyads include male-male, female-female, and male-female. Data were collected from May 11-May 22 , 2017 and May 11- June 19, 2018. Instantaneous scan samples were taken at two-minute intervals, and for each scan the sex of each individual, the nearest neighbor's sex, and proximity to closest neighbor were recorded. Proximities were visually estimated to the nearest half meter and sex was determined by body size and the presence or absence of scrotum. The data showed that males maintained closer distances with females than with other males, and females maintained closer distances with females than males. The average male-male distance was 4.2 meters, female-female 1.51 meters, and male-female 2.68 meters. The results suggest that sex plays a role in the spatial organization of a group. In A. palliata adult males have been found to rarely interact with other males and will often employ avoidance strategies, explaining the distances observed between males in this study. Female-female dyads tend to maintain closer and more affiliative proximities due to the presence of infants and the lack of competition for mating and food resources. There are also more females present in A. palliata troop than males, increasing the likelihood that males would be in proximity to females rather than other males.

Braithwaite, Scott; Bingham, Emilia; Deichman, Conner; Esplin, Charlotte; Evans, Libby; Hileman, Rachel (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Braithwaite, Scott (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Clinical Psychology)

No test has yet been developed to measure academic optimism among college students. This is a critical oversight given the correlation between levels of optimism, mental health, and academic success. In the last 12 months, approximately 40 - 60% of undergraduates have felt anxiety and/or depression to the point of impairment. This distress impacts academic performance, retention, and graduation rates. Students who consider themselves pessimistic are more likely to drop classes. Optimism appears to be protective against the stress of college. Anxiety, depression, and stress have shown negative correlations with optimistic thinking. Measuring academic optimism may bring awareness to students and counselors and be used to determine who may benefit from tertiary interventions.

The Collegiate Optimism Orientation Test (COOT), is a 14-item 4-point Likert scale measure of academic optimism. 437 participants were recruited through a national sample through Mturk.com. Data analysis is pending and will be completed by November 2019. A preliminary analysis of the COOT administered to 142 college students revealed good reliability (α = .85) and two extracted factors (eigenvalues=4.42 and 1.09). In addition to presenting our full findings from our replication of the pilot, we will discuss the potential implications of our measure in clinical settings for college students.

Sanders, Hannah; Graul, Antje; Lavoie, Raymond (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Graul, Antje (Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Marketing and Strategy Department)

It is imperative for institutions of higher-education to understand and meet the needs of their students when teaching in an online environment, specifically, how their enjoyment, attitude and learning outcomes derived from an online class can be predicted. Our research demonstrates the importance of instructor playfulness--defined as the level of which an instructor is gregarious, uninhibited, comedic and dynamic in class--in an online class environment. We suggest that instructor playfulness significantly positively correlates with students' perception of enjoyment, attitude and learning outcomes in an online class.

To test these predictions, we conducted a quantitative study with college students in order to gain insights into their experiences and perceptions of instructor playfulness in online classes and surveyed related student outcomes. Our results suggest that the positive effects of instructor playfulness in an online class are drawn by the extent to which students develop a subject-related identity and improved flow of the online class. Based on our findings, we conclude specific methods and teaching techniques that can be incorporated by online instructors to design their online classes in higher education more successfully.

Together, our research advances the existing stream of literature by examining the concept of instructor playfulness in an online context. We contribute to practical implications by offering guidance for online instructors in higher education.

Davis, Justin; Hinkson, Kent; Brooks, Malisa; Bryan, Craig (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Hinkson, Kent (University of Utah, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Suicide is currently the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (Heron, 2019), and poses a public health crisis which many organizations are attempting to understand, decrease, and altogether prevent. While military service has historically functioned as a protective factor against suicide, the year 2008 marked a turning point with veteran suicide exceeding the demographically-matched rate for that of civilians in the US (Schoenbaum et al., 2014). In 2016, US veteran rates of suicide were 150% higher than civilian rates after adjusting for age and gender (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2018). Physical and psychological service-connected disabilities such as PTSD, depression, chronic pain, and ambulatory issues influence rates of suicidal ideation, behavior, and attempts. The main aim of this study was to understand which categories of service-connected disability, if any, correlate with increased or decreased rates of suicidal ideation, attempt, and behavior. The findings of this nationwide study involving 487 student veterans suggest that the type of disability is indeed related to not only rates of suicide, but also severity of ideation and behaviors. Additionally, academic accommodations for these disabilities were found to be related to a significant reduction of suicide risk. These findings provide significant implications for the screening and treatment of at-risk individuals, specifically those on campus. Other aims include understanding limitations of this method of inquiry, future directions for research, and potential implications of findings for targeted interventions of physical and psychological disorders specific to the veteran population.

Ashton, S. Jeramy (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Mizell, Karen (Utah Valley University; Philosophy, Ethics)

This presentation will be based off of the Social Construct Theory and more specifically hegemonic masculinity. After expounding upon the Social Construct Theory being a destructive form of gender norms and exploring how men and women are to act, I will be sharing a slam poem featuring many elements of my experience as a rape survivor and the tie between rape and masculinity. The presentation will begin with exploring how time is owned by hegemonic masculinity and throughout the presentation that power will shift, strength will be found and it will become evident in the conclusion �that this is our finest hour.

Geist, Claudia: Rodriguez, Johnny (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Geist, Claudia (Sociology, Gender Studies)

Previous research has demonstrated variation between racial and ethnic groups in the patterns of access to, and use of highly effective and long-lasting contraception. There has been a lack of research on how race and ethnicity interact with social and economic predictors of contraceptive method use. Specifically, this research project identifies the variation in the effect of social and economic factors on contraceptive use patterns across ethnic/racial groups. We use data from the HER Salt Lake initiative, a prospective study that provided family planning clients in the state of Utah with various contraceptive choices, while also removing cost barriers. We first summarize social and economic characteristics, potential barriers, and ethnic/racial group. We next replicate existing research that predict usage of effective and long-lasting contraception (IUD and Implants) as a function of social, economic, and demographic characteristics, and more importantly, whether the impact of social and economic factors on contraceptive choice varies across racial and ethnic group. In a final analytic step, this project looks at how the impact of pregnancy intentions on contraceptive method choice varies across racial/ethnic group. Preliminary findings suggest that women of color face significantly higher health care barriers (both social and economic), yet there are no significant differences in the usage of IUDs and implants. By acknowledging social and economic factors as possible barriers to health care more broadly, and contraception specifically, and highlighting racial and ethnic variation in the impact of these factors, we hope to increase access to a wide range of contraceptive choices for all consumers.

Walters, Sierra (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Lee, Yoon (Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services, Human Development and Family Studies Department); Johnson, Alena (Emma Jones College of Education & Human Services, Human Development and Family Studies Department)

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student financial well-being and student life management skills. College is often the first experience individuals have living on their own and manage their own finances. If I can gather data and information regarding the financial understanding, habits, and confidence of students, as a university we can better cater to their financial needs. I will examine through non-experiential survey results how financial well-being such as financial attitudes, habits, behaviors, and knowledge of Utah State University students relate to their life management skills. This survey takes place on the Qualtrics platform. It is anticipated that the data will assess the financial well-being of Utah State Students and the relationship it has on their overall life management. As this study is not the first of its kind, it is exclusively focused on Utah State University. I am confident that this project will provide valuable and useful data for the university. Administrators and faculty members will be able to use this data to further assist the USU student population to develop healthy financial habits, learn management skills such as stress management and health management, and achieve academic success. I am currently in the data accumulation phase of my research. The survey will be closing mid-November, 2019. I will begin data analysis from that point to have the results prepared and ready to present come December 2019.

Blackburn, Dallas (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Green, Richard (College of Social and Behavioral Science, Department of Political Science)

For a long time, both executive orders and the administrative state have been controversial topics since for many they seem antithetical to the constitutional principles that are at the center of American governance. Here I examine the relationship between executive orders and public administration in the context of four constitutional principles: representative democracy, separation of powers, federalism, and individual liberties, with special considerations of the use and abuses of executive orders within this relationship. I consider this relationship in the context of current instances of executive orders that affect the administrative state. For this analysis, I employ a framework based on a constitutionally-grounded theory of public administration developed by John Rohr that I refer to as the "administrative constitutionalism theory." Additionally, I present two different views on executive orders: one framed by the unitary theory of the executive, and the other by the three zones framework developed by Justice Robert Jackson in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer 343 US 579 (1952). Using that framework, I offer a critique of the unitary theory of the executive as an unacceptable rationale for executive orders in a governmental system built upon constitutional principles. I then present evidence and analysis that the three zones framework offers the proper guidance for the use of executive orders in a way that aligns with these principles, and which is compatible with Rohr's administrative constitutionalism framework. I argue for the use of executive orders in accordance with the three zones framework and administrative constitutionalism as a way of structuring and limiting the use of executive orders to constitutionally appropriate criteria.

Mattei, Dustin; Angell, Emma; Truman, Savanah; Holiday, Pam; Gonzales, Veronica; Price, Ashton (Dixie State University)
Faculty Advisor: Oxley, Robert (Dixie State University, Applied Sociology)

As part of Dixie State University's Institute for Social Research, this paper will identify questions pertaining to burnout. Recently, the World Health Organization has deemed burnout as a recognized syndrome. Building off of this new information, the ISR is looking at the overall social acceptance of burnout and how, as a society, it teaches individuals to accept it. Through the lens of symbolic interaction, the ISR looks at how the modern age of technology is affecting this acceptance. Specifically, the modern reliance upon technology is something that is looked at as contributor. The transfer of culture through common symbols is now faster than ever with the emergence of social media platforms. These meanings are portrayed through language, pictures and even trends that reveal societies acceptance of the feelings and symptoms associated with burnout. A great example of this would be the famous picture of the "don't give up!" frog in the stork's mouth. Even though the frog is being eaten, it's still trying to choke the stork. This picture may change, but the point behind the message is always clear, one must keep going even if it seems they are done. This social acceptance of burnout through the means of social media content is one part of the multiple facets the ISR is researching under the subject of burnout.

Kamimura, Akiko; Zhang, Cathleen (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Kamimura, Akiko (College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sociology)

The role of immigrants and refugees in American economic communities has long been undervalued and degraded. In recent years, however, some businesses have shifted their focus towards serving and employing immigrants and refugees in hopes of building tolerance and integrating migrants into the local economy. One way community economic theory has been implemented has been through culinary incubator kitchens. Incubators offer training and employment to individuals who are often disadvantaged, such as women, people of color, and refugees or immigrants. In Salt Lake City, the International Rescue Committee has operated the S.P.I.C.E. Kitchen incubator since 2012. In this study, customer perceptions on the services that a culinary incubator kitchen provide are used to examine the relationship between the community, the staff at the incubator kitchen, and customers. Data is being collected through short one-on-one interviews with customers who pick meals up at an incubator, which are then transcribed and analyzed for trends. Preliminary findings have shown that while many customers choose to purchase from S.P.I.C.E. Kitchen in order to support the refugee community, not many know much about what the program does or how it prepares its participants for setting up businesses and contributing to the local economy. Many express a desire to know more about the chefs and the inner workings of the program. Examining these preliminary findings through the lens of the Community Economic Development model shows that the disconnect between customers of S.P.I.C.E. Kitchen and its staff could prevent better integration between the individuals receiving training on opening food businesses and their potential employees, customers, or supporters in the community.

Jijon Felix, Karen; Hinkson, Kent; Brooks, Malisa; Bryan, Craig (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Hinkson, Kent (Utah Valley University, Behavioral Science)

Military personnel who are deployed are 1.36 times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder and 1.14 times more likely to develop a drug use disorder. The most abused substances in the military are alcohol and nicotine, with prescription pain reliever abuse becoming more prevalent. More than half of active duty service members reported binge drinking. Pain reliever use has gradually increased over the years, from 2% in 2002, 4% in 2005 and 11% in 2008 (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2013). In 2016, 22% of active-duty soldiers had a least one opioid prescription (Armytimes.com, 2018). Additionally, substance use disorder has been found to positively correlate with the number of deployments. However, some question whether or not this is due to the actual deployment or the time in service (i.e. as a person serves in the military longer, they deploy more often). This study seeks to investigate if the number of deployments and/or time in service is associated with increased substance use, and if so, does the age of the service member or veteran partially mediate the correlation. Findings show no relationship between number of deployments and current alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, or illicit drug use. Additionally, when examining the number of years they served, there was a correlation with caffeine consumption. However, after accounting for age, there was no significant relationship between number of years served and caffeine consumption. These findings suggest that among this sample age may be counterbalancing early substance use found in other populations, or that there may be something unique about the population (veterans and service members enrolled in postsecondary education) that make them less likely to abuse substances.

Birmingham, Wendy; Collier, Emily; Cressman, Mikel; Deichman, Conner; Fitzgerald, Joseph; Graff, Tyler (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Birmingham, Wendy (Family, Home, and Social Sciences, Family Life)

The body of research points to work-home balance having a negative impact on marital satisfaction and quality. However, literature on the quality of marital relationship's impact on work-home balance is limited. With various different factors contributing to marital dissatisfaction, the interaction of poor work-home balance affecting marital quality may work in the inverse direction. Additionally, with family roles shifting from their previous traditional roles to more progressive roles, it is of interest to investigate the interaction of marital quality and work-home balance between genders.

For this study, we used purposive sampling to recruit working mothers and their spouses using online and in-person flyers. In addition, participants were found using snowballing sampling techniques. Filtered by an eligibility study, only working and married mothers were included in the full study. Upon approval of eligibility, the mothers and their spouses came into the lab to complete additional surveys, which included measuring marital quality and work-family balance. Drawing from 220 participants, this study hopes to better define the potential relationship between marital relationship quality and work-family balance.

As family dynamics continue to change, we hypothesized that decreased marital relationship quality will have a negative impact on work-family balance. Additionally, we hypothesized that the impact of marital quality on work-family balance would be more prominent for the women, in comparison to their husbands.

A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of marital relationship quality on work-family balance in working husbands and wives. The data analysis revealed there was not a significant effect of marital relationship quality on work family balance at the p<.05 level (F(3, 216) = 1.66, p = 0.176). As the effect was not significant, it was not appropriate to run an effect size difference by gender. Contrary to the literature, our hypotheses were not supported. We theorize the directionality of our hypothesis may have impacted our results, which may have an indication that work-family balance has a significant impact on marital quality, but not vice versa.

Lant, Christopher; Paudel, Suman (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Lant, Christopher (S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources, Environment and Society Department)

This project is part of a greater National Science Foundation funded collaboration project designed to detail the food, energy, and water system in the United States. The goal of the project is ultimately to provide, "an empirical basis for advances in theory and scientific modeling of the complete food-energy-water (FEW) system of the United States" (NSF, 2019). My part in the project is connected to the amount of net primary productivity that humans harvest in the United States through major crops. The measurement for the human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) is in gC/m2/year, and my research aims to visualize this on maps of the contiguous United States.

Data from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service were synthesized to create a final data set that contains harvest data by county, by year, for alfalfa, corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat from 1980 to 2017. R programming software was used to clean and disaggregate the data, and GIS Software was used to visualize the results.

The results of this project show changes over time, distributions, and densities of harvests in the United States. The data and visualizations that were made as a result of this project are a part of the greater National Science Foundation project to help understand how much primary productivity humans harvest, and ultimately, where those products are used and consumed.

Holden, Maliea; Richardson, Spencer; Chilom, Gabriela (Dixie State University)
Faculty Advisor: Chilom, Gabriela (Dixie State University, Physical Sciences)

Humic acids are a key component of the terrestrial ecosystem as they are responsible for many physical and chemical properties of soils; buffering capacity, metal-binding capacity, transport and fate of contaminants, stability of aggregates of soil particles and water-holding capacity all depend on the amount and nature of humic substances in a soil.

The current project is looking into the properties and ability of humic acids extracted from leaves, to improve the stability and fertility of a mineral soil. The humic acid was extracted from fresh and aerobically incubated leaves by traditional alkali extraction. Three species of trees commonly grown in St George, Utah were selected: Prunus x Cistena, Pyrus Calleryana Bradford, and Chilopsis Linearis. The extracts were characterized by the amount and nature of their carbon content as determined by IR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Their properties showed similarities and differences with humic acid extracted from mineral soil and leonardite.

White, Michelle; Koury, Spencer; Phadnis, Nitin (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Phadnis, Nitin (University of Utah, School of Biological Sciences)

Sex-ratio chromosomes in Drosophila pseudoobscura are of particular interest because they violate not one, but all three of Mendel's laws of genetics. These special X chromosomes distort the ratio of X and Y-bearing sperm, which leads to biased sex-ratios within the offspring. Although such transmission ratio distortions have been observed from as early as 1928, very little is known about the systems of genes responsible for sex-ratio chromosomal drive due to several complications with traditional methods. Here, we perform one part of a three-part experimental series that attempt to dissect and identify not only the genes involved but also its mechanism. Specifically, this approach will use saturation chemical mutagenesis to knock out every gene on sex-ratio (SR) chromosomes. In order to accomplish this task as efficiently and timely as possible, several preliminary experiments were conducted. We provide the natural variability in SR chromosomal drive and the best statistical framework to analyze the actual mutagenesis experiment. Our results further provide an EMS dosage response curve for the D. pseudoobscura species which has only previously existed for D. melanogaster. These findings propose a reconsideration of the traditional methods used for studying SR chromosomal drive and suggest the mechanism behind the genes or systems of genes involved in this process.
With its rich biological history, the field of genetics has truly grown and expanded into all that we know today. With special regard to our very own Nobel Laureate, Dr. Mario Capecchi, The University of Utah has a dynamic relationship with the field of genetics. The Phadnis Lab plays an active role in this remarkable community and has answered several ideas in evolutionary conflict and speciation. Thus, as a student from the University of Utah studying genetics, it would be greatly interesting to be able to present my work at UCUR.

Cutler, Alynne; Hagan, Maura; Yuan, Titus (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Hagan, Maura (College of Science, Physics Department); Yuan, Titus (College of Science, Physics Department)

Analyses of sodium resonance lidar temperature measurements made during a three-day period in August 2009 in the mesopause region (ca. 70-120km) above Fort Collins CO, along with analyses of correlative temperature predictions from the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM) reveal diurnal and semidiurnal temperature variations characteristic of solar atmospheric tides. Harmonic analyses via Fourier decomposition of the lidar data reveal a dominant semidiurnal oscillation with amplitudes that are well-represented in TIME-GCM at altitudes below about 92 km. A comparatively weaker diurnal tide was detected in the lidar data. This variation is negligible in the TIME-GCM results below 95km. Downward phase progression associated with upward propagating tides characterizes both tidal model and measurement results. Comparisons between August 2009 mean temperature profiles reveal a cold bias of ~17K in the TIME-GCM mesopause region. Equivalent analyses of temperature during a second three-day period in January 2009 remain in progress.