Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Higher Education Administration

Multipotential students have multiple abilities, strengths, and interests, many of which could be developed to a high level. They can succeed in a wide range of careers, have many interests that they may wish to combine or decide amongst when considering their plans, often leading to indecision. Deciding on an academic major or career is a complex decision, particularly for multipotential students. The purpose of this general inductive inquiry was to understand how multipotential college students navigate the academic major and career choice processes. Rational choice theory was the theoretical framework for this study. I interviewed 12 current multipotential college students and four advisors who assisted students with academic and career decisions and plans. Advisors identified the student participants as multipotential, and the students confirmed their multipotentiality before participating in the study. Three themes emerged from the data about multipotential students' experiences with academic major and career choice processes: (a) Seeking Support and Validation; (b) Using Exploration, Reflection, and Connection to Learn; and (c) Using Growth and Self-Awareness to Help Students Navigate Their Choices. Three themes also emerged related to the challenges of multipotential students: (a) Searching for Options and Flexibility, (b) Delaying Having to Make a Choice, and (c) Finding Ways to Pull all the Pieces Together. Themes that related to the use of RCT included: (a) Helping People and Developing Community, (b) Focusing Beyond Salary, and (c) Using Values for Guidance. Six implications for practice are presented. First, advising staff who assist multipotential students can benefit from training about multipotential students and their needs. Second, values should be considered and used to assist multipotential students. Third, multipotential students can benefit from experiences, including encountering failure. Fourth, institutions should offer self-desi (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Females can vary in their mate choice decisions and this variability can play a key role in evolution by sexual selection. Variability in female preferences can affect the intensity and direction of selection on male sexual traits, as well as explain variation in male reproductive success. I looked at how consistency of female preference can vary for a male sexual trait, song length, and then examined context-dependent situations that may contribute to variation in female preferences. In Chapter 2, I assessed repeatability – a measure of among-individual variation – in preference for male song length in female American goldfinches (Spinus tristis). I found no repeatability in preference for song length but did find an overall preference for shorter songs. I suggest that context, including the social environment, may be important in altering the expression of female preferences. In Chapter 3, I assessed how the choices of other females influence female preference. Mate choice copying, in which female preference for a male increases if he has been observed with other females, has been observed in several non-monogamous birds. However, it is unclear whether mate choice copying occurs in socially monogamous species where there are direct benefits from choosing an unmated male. I found evidence for mate choice copying and suggest that copying occurs when choosing extrapair mates. In Chapter 4, I examine how social relationships among females influence copying. A female may be more likely to copy another female if they are familiar with one another due to shared environments and experiences. I found that females are more likely to copy familiar rather than unfamiliar females, which has not been shown in this context. The latter two chapters show that social context is a source of variation that can cause a female to alter her preferences. This suggests an important potential role of female-female social relationships on male reproductive success and the evol (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Education, University of Toledo, 2009, Higher Education

The research question this thesis answers is why do students choose to attend selected Midwestern Christian liberal arts institutions for their education. The literature indicates that there are many different factors influencing college choice, and there are three different phases of college choice: the decision to go to college, of where to apply, and of where to enroll. This study will address all three stages, but focus on the third. To answer the research question, 20 first-year college students were interviewed using an interview guide for 30 minutes each, 10 at a Midwestern Christian liberal arts college and 10 at a Midwestern Christian liberal arts university. The interviews were transcribed and data was lifted from the transcriptions through a typological content analysis, which allowed the researcher to compare the themes of college choice found in the research to those in the literature. The final chapter examines how the influences indicated by the study participants have implications for the endurance of Christian liberal arts colleges in our current time and also has recommendations for further study.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2013, Higher Education

The college choice considerations and decisions of high school seniors matriculating full-time to four-year colleges is well-documented. However, a growing majority of students do not fit within the high school to four-year college group, leaving gaps in the college choice research literature. This qualitative study addresses the college choice research gap though semi-structured interviews of 17 academically talented – 3.5 or higher grade point average with over 25 college credits completed – Pell Grant-eligible community college students seeking transfer to a four-year college. All participants demonstrated high levels of motivation to complete a baccalaureate. Twelve of participants applied to only one transfer college and five applied to two. Constraints on college choice included a variety of financial considerations, strategic recruiting strategies by four-year colleges, and a lack of detailed guidance and college knowledge. Utilizing a cultural capital framework for analysis, marked differences between the college experiences of traditional four-year students and high-achieving, low-income non-traditional community college students were found including differences based on class, race and cultural traditions.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Higher Education (Education)

Appalachia is the geographic region of the United States spanning 205,000 square miles across 13 states from New York to the northern part of Mississippi (Appalachian Regional Commission [ARC], 2018). Common themes found throughout the region include emphasis on family ties, mistrust of outsiders, resistance to change, and poverty (Bradbury & Mather, 2009; Bryan & Simmons, 2009; Denham, 2016; Hand & Miller Payne, 2008; Robinson, 2015; Wallace, 2001; Welch, 2011). Another theme is low college degree attainment. While nearly 86% of Appalachia's adult population holds a high school degree, fewer than 18% hold undergraduate degrees (ARC, 2018; National Center for Education Statistics Fast Facts Education Attainment, 2018). Job opportunities and earning power increase with degree attainment, something that is especially important in the Appalachian region where traditional industries are becoming less viable (Georgetown 2011; Georgetown, 2013; Snyder, 2015). In order to increase degree attainment in the region, we must first understand the process students experience as they make the decision to choose college after high school. Using Perna's (2006) model for college choice, this study examined how Appalachian college students choose to pursue higher education. Perna's (2006) model for college choice includes four layers, all of which influence the college decision-making process students experience: habitus, school and community context, higher education context, and social, economic, and policy context. This study found that the strongest influence in Appalachian college student choice comes from habitus, especially social capital in college-going support and encouragement from family. Supportive relationships, cultural capital, and resources from Appalachian high schools and high school personnel also affect student choice. Higher education institutions contribute to college choice mostly in location, affordability, and institutional character (open full item for complete abstract)

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2021, Business Administration

The purpose of this study is to understand differences in factors in selecting a college major for students studying business and non-business majors by gender. A survey was distributed to students at four-year undergraduate institutions in the United States. Ultimately, it was observed that significantly more business students were influenced by earning potential and college professor(s) in the selection of their major. Significantly more female business students were influenced by their father in their choice of major than were female non-business students. Some factors that influenced female non-business majors more than female business majors included teachers and exposure to major throughout high school. When examining how to increase female enrollment in business colleges, factors seen as more influential by non-business majors should be considered for recruiting women to business.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Critical social interactions between animals such as courtship and competition over resources are mediated by communication signals, which have evolved via natural or sexual selection. Signals may have evolved to transmit information about senders, to affect receiver responses, or both. Birds have long served as focal organisms in studies of signaling, as many avian signals have undergone extensive elaboration. The role of avian signals in breeding behavior is also well studied, as many signals evolved specifically for use in this context. Additionally, birds exhibit several types of mating systems and the reliability of signal information may vary between mating systems. Among birds, some grouse species are distinguished by a promiscuous mating system which is often centered on leks. Although these species exhibit the classic lek-mating system, several questions related to signals transmitted during breeding behavior remain scantly researched. The research in this dissertation focuses on signals employed in the breeding behavior of the lek-mating lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a North American grouse (sub-family Tetraonidae). Males display two sets of bright, conspicuous color ornaments used in visual signaling and sound production during breeding behavior. I tested the hypotheses that these ornaments are honest signals of age, condition (Chapter 2), and parasite loads (Chapter 3). Additionally, I considered the effects of ornament size and color properties on male mating success and the performance of male duets which are unique to the lesser prairie-chicken relative to other grouse. In Chapter 4, I tested the hypothesis that females rely on the interpretation of multiple male signals when choosing mates, and in Chapter 5 I explored three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses related to male duets: 1) duets serve as an endurance contest, 2) duets serve as a mechanism to de-escalate or prevent violent interactions between males, and 3) duets (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of the Arts / School of Art

This action research study examines restructuring my elementary visual art curriculum to allow for a higher level of student choice through a studio classroom. My curriculum transition to choice-based art education is influenced by the Teaching for Artistic Behavior philosophy and pedagogy. Using a case study as part of my action research, I study teachers who have already restructured their curriculums, classrooms, and teaching philosophies. Through dialogue and interviews with three visual art teachers I aim to better understand the components of Teaching for Artistic Behavior and how to implement it in practice. The literature review provides a historical context and contemporary thoughts on choice-based education, art education, and choice-based art education. The study's findings through data analysis aim to find balance within a choice-based approach and acknowledge the barriers, challenges, and positives of transitioning the art curriculum.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Higher Education Administration

Deciding which college to attend can be a complex process for students. The purpose of this narrative study was to hear the stories of fashion merchandising students and their college choice process when choosing to attend a large, suburban or rural, Midwest, public institution instead of a specialized college of fashion. Rational choice theory is the theoretical framework for this study. I interviewed 16 current college students enrolled in fashion merchandising at two public universities in the Midwest. The participants knew they wanted to study fashion merchandising before enrolling in college. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data for this qualitative study. By using a creative nonfiction style, I restoried the data to present a narrative that describes the college choice process for the participants. Participants shared the most significant factors in their college choice process: availability of academic options, campus environment, cost, information from influential people, opportunity to study in New York or abroad, proximity to home, rankings, and a desire for a traditional college experience. I concluded the paper by answering the research questions, discussing significant findings, presenting implications for practice, and providing implications for future research.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, Economics

Medicare and Medicaid are U.S. Federal health insurance programs established in 1965 as an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935. They provide coverage to the aged population (65+), low-income individuals, and to other subsets of the U.S. population. After reviewing the foundations of Medicare/Medicaid, I analyze the political economy of Members of Congress vote choices on the original 1965 Medicare/Medicaid law. I find evidence that the number of doctors per 100,000 individuals in a state is a strong predictor of vote choice and there is statistically significant interaction between percentage of Black Americans and the South. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that party alignment of constituencies and geographic region played roles in persuading Republicans in party-contested states to defect. The behavior of these defectors is dependent on their party alignment and the party alignment of the majority in Congress. To assess the strength of the model across time and legislation, I run a fully interacted, pooled OLS regression on both the 1965 legislation, and the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. I find the effects of hospitals do not hold across time. However, I find evidence target populations remain insignificant in both datasets, suggesting they are not strong influencers of vote choice.

MA, Kent State University, 2019, College of the Arts / School of Art

This case study research describes how a mid-career art teachers makes visible holistic approaches to art education in a choice-based practice in an urban public charter school. It includes a dual review of literature on the topics of choice-based and holistic practices in contemporary art education. The findings of this case study research describe a detailed analysis of how holistic and choice-based approaches support each other in practice.

Bachelor of Science, Walsh University, 2019, Honors

Diversity in culture, ethnicity, and race in the United States requires nurses individualize care while being mindful of the patient's cultural needs (Leininger & McFarland, 2006). Care must be patient specific, and this care cannot be delivered without proportionate cultural knowledge. Inspired by Madeleine Leininger, a nursing theorist who developed the Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory, this project explores how culture impacts maternal infant feeding methods and decisions. In 2007, the CDC published that 59.7% African Americans, 77.7% Caucasians, and 80.6% Hispanics breastfed in the United States (Jones, Power, Queenan, & Schulkin, 2015). Research suggests there are multiple factors that contribute to feeding decisions such as employment, education, socioeconomic status, and culture. While many of these topics have been researched, culture has not been a primary focus. Past research indicates that Hispanic mothers are more likely to breastfeed because it is “ingrained in their Hispanic heritage” and that “breastfeeding is what Hispanics do” (Hohl, et al., 2016; Reeves & Woods-Giscombe, 2015). African American women, are more likely to bottle feed due to cultural/ethnic opposition which began in the slave era, when African American women were forced to breastfeed and care for their master's children (DeVane-Johnson et al., 2017). This imposed feeding role has resulted in many African Americans feeling sensitive to breastfeeding in the United States. In both cultures/ethnicities women are taught these ideas by their female family members, such as mothers and grandmothers (DeVane-Johnson et al., 2017; Hohl et al., 2016; Kaufman et al., 2010; Owens et al., 2018; Reeves & Woods-Giscombe, 2015). My thesis sought to explore how infant feeding choices and preferences are influenced by their cultural backgrounds of the minority Middle Eastern cultural groups in Northeastern Ohio. In the United States 3.7 million residents trace their roots to an Arab coun (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Economics

The products offered in an industry determine the profits of firms and consumer welfare. In this paper, I estimate a model of product entry and exit in the U.S. yogurt industry from 2001-2011 using supermarket scanner data from the IRI Marketing Database. I use a two-step procedure. I first estimate yogurt industry demand and variable costs using the standard framework of Berry et al. (1995). In the second step, I estimate the fixed costs of offering a product. Estimation of the fixed cost is complicated because firms can offer any subset of the potential product lines in the industry, but I only observe in the sample a small number of the possible combinations of products. I apply the pairwise maximum score estimator of Fox (2007), which provides consistent estimates in settings with large choice sets. I use the first stage estimates to compute firms' expected variable profits from offering alternative sets of products and choose the fixed costs parameters to maximize the number of times the model predicts that the firms' observed choices were optimal. In a counterfactual analysis, I find that increases in market concentration do not increase the incentives to offer more unique products than the competitive industry offered and that the increased product variety is not enough to compensate consumers for the increases in prices.

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences

Recent interest in male mate choice has prompted a re-examination of widely held beliefs regarding sex roles in animal mating systems. It is now known that males can be choosy based on female quality – namely with regards to sperm competition and fecundity. However, studies which directly compare aspects of female quality and their influence on male mate choice are relatively rare. The brush-legged wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata (Hentz) has a well-studied, conspicuous male courtship display, within which can be seen evidence of male mate choice based on female mating history and foraging history, as well as possible effects of experience and rearing environment. This makes it an excellent system to compare the importance of these two female states and examine how the choice patterns they give rise to may be influenced by the environment. By examining male courtship and female behavior under different circumstances and across environmental experience conditions, the relative effects of these factors can be inferred. Evidence collected in this study suggests that female mating status is the dominant predictor of both male and female mate choice, with males most often courting virgin females more vigorously regardless of context, as well as females showing higher levels of receptivity when unmated. An important exception to this trend is seen in field-reared males and their female partners, who show no preference or behavioral differences based on female state, suggesting that this preference is not static and may be influenced by experience. Altogether these results fit within the general pattern of two-axis preference studies by showing a trend to the importance of mating status with lesser importance of feeding status. Therefore, these results may help to better understand the influence of male mate choice on female sexual selection across taxa.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Psychology

Conflict in the Stroop task is measured by both response time and accuracy. The amount of conflict differs depending on the response modality, verbal vs. manual. We applied a model for multichoice decision making (and confidence), the RTCON2 model (Ratcliff & Starns, 2013) to the data from four experiments, 2 variants with 2-choice manual responses, one with 4-choice manual response and vocal response, and a 4-choice touch screen experiment. Changes in the rate of information accumulation captured conflict effects for the manual response and touch screen versions, but not for the vocal response version. Adding an extra non-decision time parameter allowed RTCON2 to accurately capture the data patterns in the vocal response version. However in order to fully understand conflict in the vocal response Stroop, a model of conflict processing in the vocal system must be developed.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2016, Educational Administration (Education)

Women continue to be underrepresented in the nontraditional careers. With areas of cosmetology, health sciences, education and child care being the dominate female careers; there is limited female representation in welding, carpentry, plumbing/pipefitting, electrical and other traditional male careers. Due to facing social barriers and developing an understanding of skill measurement among peers by the age of adolescence, individuals will disregard career options that may be viable for the future based on limited exposure and inaccurate facts. In addition, as students become aware of their own interests and abilities career preferences begin to emerge. Choices tend to be toward jobs in which students find accessible and in which there is a familiarity. The process of self-selection and differentiated task-specific beliefs among students occurs as early as elementary school. Researchers have gathered data to bring awareness that gender stereotyping occurs within the elementary setting and students are already self-selecting careers based upon those stereotypes at young ages. By the age of adolescence, the experiences students have had within the school setting, within the home, and through experiences or lack thereof, can already determine the career path for an individual. Due to females being strongly influenced by their setting and the expected gender roles they are to play, understanding the research is critical for the recruitment and retention of women within a nontraditional work setting. Recruitment and early exposure can start at earlier ages by providing job shadowing and mentoring early in the educational life of a child. By researching ways to improve the recruitment and retention of females into nontraditional occupations, tremendous financial opportunities could be available to women who may never have considered the skill sets and talent they have as being viable. This qualitative study uses a series of three interviews with selected participants (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2015, Experimental Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

College is usually when people start having principal control over their food choices (Smith, Taylor, & Stephen, 2000). The current work focuses on understanding beliefs about nutrition and health, and food choices of the college student population. Guided by findings of previous research on the factors that influence the likelihood of consumers using nutrition labels (Drichoutis, Lazaridis, and Nayga, 2006; Nayga 1996), the present study explored the impact of gender, attitudes towards important aspects of food choice, and nutrition knowledge on the cognitive processes underlying college students' nutrition information acquisition behavior and food selection. Through the use of a processing tracing techniques, results showed that the surveys used to measure constructs relative to food choice need major psychometric improvements, the decision strategy used by college students were as predicted by the literature, in particular the heuristics decision strategy theory (Gigerenzer and Todd, 1999), but did not lead to accurate choices.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2015, Psychology

Presentation of stimuli has been shown not to facilitate later forced-choice perceptual identification, in which two response alternatives were presented on the screen at test. Several models were developed to explain performance in these paradigms, but none addressed the time course of processing. In this study, we examined the effect of prior study on performance by modeling accuracy and response times as well as eye fixation data. The model assumes two racing diffusing processes in which evidence accumulation rate (drift rate) differs as a function of the response alternative being currently viewed. Change in performance between the different study conditions (studied target, studied foil, or studied neither) was accounted for by a change in drift rate. Even without the eye tracking data, the model successfully fit choice behavior, response time distributions, and many of the eye fixation results.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Business: Business Administration

This dissertation investigates substantive questions developed from Kahneman and Tversky's behavioral choice theory. Behavioral choice theory postulates systematic departures from economically rational behavior when consumers face choices described incompletely or probabilistically. Previous research relies nearly exclusively on monetary options, which are intrinsically unidimensional and exhibit monotone utility. These special properties are likely to influence the frequency of preference reversals and other so-called non-rational behaviors in human decision-making. Four contributions emerge from this research. First, I extend the idea of risky choices from monetary to non-monetary options and build a theoretical framework with a foundation in prospect theory and reason-based choice. Second, I test the effect of multidimensional vs. unidimensional non-monetary options on choice focusing on both within- and between-dimensional risk. Third, I examine loss aversion across segments and relate an aggregation fallacy to contradictory results in the literature. Fourth, I suggest an extension of Kahneman and Tversky's behavioral choice theory by incorporating options with missing information. I use three discrete choice experiments to generate decision schema by segments of individuals sharing similar utility functions. Latent class discrete-choice models isolate the direction and magnitude of value for each attribute (level) of a set of multi-attribute options. They do so in choice domains involving both monetary and non-monetary attributes and operate effectively at both the aggregate and segment levels. As such, they support the rigorous design of experiments that circumvent the need to rely on monetary gambles. Study 1 investigates the influence of monetary (vs. non-monetary) goals on multidimensional risky choice when full information on reference points is available to an individual. Findings support goal-driven behavior, but reveal only limited evidence to supp (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

The current investigation examined the effects of behavioral history on elementary students' preference for making a choice in two studies. Previous research on choice has focused on the arrangement of current contingencies and has not accounted for the effects of behavioral history. Study 1 examined participants' preference for two options (i.e., two math problems) or one option (i.e., one math problem) conditions based on prior exposure to certain option conditions. During baseline, participants were allowed to choose to complete math problems in either the two or one option condition. During the history building condition, participants were exposed to either two options, one option, or a mixed condition (alternating between two and one option conditions). The subsequent return to baseline assessed behavioral history effects on preference for choice. The results of Study 1 indicated that behavioral history did not affect the preference for choice for 4 of the 6 participants. For 2 participants, behavioral history effects were possible; however, responding was variable across sessions and across replication of the conditions. Study 2 assessed the effects of behavioral history on selection of a reinforcer. Experimental conditions were set up similar to Study 1. During baseline, participants were able to choose math problems to complete that resulted in the participant selecting the reinforcer or the experimenter selecting the reinforcer. During the history building condition, participants were exposed to either the participant selects the reinforcer, the experimenter selects the reinforcer, or a mixed condition (alternating between the participant or experimenter selecting the reinforcer). The subsequent return to baseline assessed behavioral history effects on preference for who selected the reinforcers. The results from Study 2 indicated that preference for selection of the reinforcer was highly individualized. Study 2 was not able to adequately control for the i (open full item for complete abstract)