Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences Weblog

Lisa Hutton,The Master's College

Full manuscript: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/hutton.html

LaToiya C. Payton, Bridgett Clinton*, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Full manuscript: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/payton.html

Abstract This study contributes to the understanding of how the mass media's representation of the idealistic adult female affects the perceived body image and social comparison habits of the everyday woman. A self-report survey was distributed to female college students who responded to questions related to their body image, social comparison, and attitude towards advertisements. In addition, college females were exposed to a total of two advertisements featuring images of models advertising fashion products. Survey results revealed that the culture of society did not influence college females' body image perceptions through the social comparison of print advertisements. However, the study did reveal that college females were more influenced by the social comparison of their peers rather than print advertisements.

Scott Beck, University of Pittsburgh

Full paper: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/beck.html

Abstract

Taiwan has a history full of oppressive rulers and people who resisted their oppression. During October to December of 2008, widespread protests of government intervention in civil society showed that this struggle is not yet finished. This paper analyzes those protests, particularly as they pertain to the Wild Strawberry Student Movement. Key concepts used in this analysis are an action-centered conceptualization of culture as a tool-kit, a narrative of unfolding, and a language of resistance.

Herbert Hudson Taylor, IV, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Full paper: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/taylor.html

Abstract This paper identifies the Anglo-American economic model as one potential cause of class inequality and surveys the ways in which one's class relates to one's ability to own a home. These relationships establish a framework for the paper's sociological question, which investigates how parental homeownership and several of its corollaries (i.e., its effects on one's ability to afford opportunity, the quality of one's communities, and one's self-concept and self-esteem) influence children's achievement of higher education. Thus, the paper ultimately attempts to explain the relationship between the Anglo-American economic model, America's class inequality, and homeownership and the eventual impacts of these phenomena on children's attainment of higher education. In this way, analyses comment on the cyclical functioning of class inequality under the Anglo-American economic model.

Courtney Footskulak, Greg Harrison, Deirdre McFate, Erica D. Carlyn Stuart, Lesley Willis, California University of Pennsylvania
Guest editor and program coordinator: Rebecca Hess PhD

Full edition: www.kon.org/urc/v9/athletic-training

Introduction: Research in athletic training has rapidly expanded over the past two decades encompassing not only the more traditional focus on clinical applications but also pedagogy and curriculum, psychology of injury, and an introspective evidence-based practice inquiry. To support this research initiative, many undergraduate athletic training education programs (ATEPs), including ours at California University of Pennsylvania, added a senior research class to the undergraduate curriculum focusing on developing an understanding of published research as well as valid research questions. More specifically, in our Sports Medicine Research course at Cal U, senior ATEP students' research topics culminate in a selected review of the literature, research proposal, and presentation of the research in class seminars as well as University Academic Excellence Events. Students are also encouraged to submit papers to professional athletic training organizations, as well as, for those that are members of our Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society, the Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences. The following five research papers were developed by the students as a culminating undergraduate research experience and represent Selected Topics in Athletic Training

Chelsea Ivy-Rose Jove, The Master's College

Full manuscript: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/jove.html

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the portrayal of fathers in the media. Fathers are being "dumbed down" and pushed aside. The survey instrument was limited to selected parents in the Santa Clarita Valley and students at The Master's College located in Santa Clarita, California, during the spring 2009 semester. The research questions were analyzed using STATPAK. The One-Dimensional Chi-square test was used to calculate the data using a .05 level of significance. It was indicated through the review of the literature that the media's portrayal of men affects the family. Fathers are extremely important when rearing children, and they affect their children's lives physiologically, emotionally, spiritually, educationally, and physically.

Jamie Ann Hernandez, The Master's College

Full manuscript: http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/hernandez.html

Abstract Current research suggests that family leisure has encouraged the involvement and interaction with children in a way that fulfills both parental and social discourse. The purpose of the study was to observe how pre-teens from the ages of 12 to 14 are impacted by the relationships they have with their family environments inside and outside of the home. The survey instrument observed the impact of family involvement on the maturation of pre-teens (12-14 years of age). The results reflected that families are incorporating planned activities on either a weekly or monthly basis and/or actively discussing family-related plans. In contrast, there was a significant lack of whole family participation. As shown through various current research and the results of this study, family togetherness and positive developmental influence are concepts that should be linked.