Gaming the Government: How to get government officials to engage with evidence-based reports – Experimental evidence from India, Tanzania, and Peru

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James Hodgson and Daniel Nielson, Political Science Important policy decisions, that affect lives all around the world, are often made without consulting the best available evidence. Many governments have called for an increase in evidence-based policy making in an effort to make policies more effective and based on research. From the baseline survey we collected […]

Testing the Psychometric Properties of Positive Psychology Measures

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Olivia Hansen and Jared Warren, Psychology Introduction Positive psychology is the rigorous and empirical study of well-being, human strengths, and human flourishing, and the experiences, traits, and institutions that lead to those aims. It began as a rigorous subdomain of psychology in the late 1990’s. Up until this point, the field of psychology had focused […]

Nabataean Painted Pottery Wares: Core vs. Periphery

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Shawn Hall and David Johnson, Anthropology Department Introduction The Nabataeans were an ancient civilization contemporary with the Romans who, through trading, where able to exhort influence over a large portion of the Middle East. Their capital of Petra is well-studied many of the cities on the outskirts of the Nabataean kingdom have just recently been […]

The Effects of Helicobacter Pylori on Cognition: A report

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Kenric Gordon, Thomas Petersen and Dawson Hedges, Psychology Introduction Last year we applied for an ORCA grant for our study of the effects of Helicobacter Pylori on Cognition. Helicobacter Pylori is a bacterium that causes ulcers in the stomach. It has also been implied to cause decreased cognitive functioning. (Berrett, Erickson, Brown, Hedges, 2016) Due […]

Psychosocial Empowerment Group Creation and Implementation Among Malawi Women

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Libby Evans and Benjamin Ogles, Psychology Research has shown that most women in Malawi will experience some form of trauma or adversity in their lifetime, and that such adversity can increase rates of mental illness and instability by as much as 15-20% (Saxena, 2017). Simple psychosocial groups and trainings have been shown to increase psychological […]

Parenting and Media: The Influence of Prenatal Beliefs on Postnatal Practices

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Brady Eisert and Sarah Coyne, School of Family Life Introduction People born in the United States (US) today will be surrounded by media for most of their lives. However, very little work has been done longitudinally to examine how this media saturation is related to development. The existing research typically examines parenting predictors after the […]

Does The Name “Trumpcare” Mean Anything to You?: How the Colloquial Naming of Healthcare Legislation in the United States Influences Approval

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Mandi Eatough and Dr. Jessica Preece, Political Science Background Legislation in the United States is often referred to by colloquial names rather than by the full bill title. Existing research suggests that the nomenclature used for legislation in the United States is often intentionally meant to influence the perception of the legislation by the public1. […]

Women vs. Men Who Makes Better Use of Financial Aid?

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Nichole Christensen, Jessica Preece, Political Science We analyze how being a federal financial aid recipient contributes to a person’s likelihood of graduation. We theorize that women who receive financial aid will be more likely to graduate than men who receive financial aid. This hypothesis can be viewed as a test of whether or not the economic […]

A Comparison of Gender Ratio, Military Culture, and Organizational Climate as Determinants of the Sexual Harassment of Women and of Men in Eight Government Organizations

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Alex Calder, Bruce Brown and Robert Ridge, Psychology Introduction The United States government spends millions of dollars each year in relation to incidences of sexual harassment. Far more important, however, is the psychological toll on individuals who experiences sexual harassment. Organizations function most effectively when people of all levels of the organization feel physically and emotionally […]

The Effects of Moral Framing on Environmental Attitudes

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Ashlyn Bodily, Darren Hawkins, Political Science Introduction Environmental issues are especially controversial in the current political landscape The purpose of this project was to better understand the effect of framing environmental issues in terms of the following values: (1) harm: disliking pain in others, (2) fairness: justice according to shared rules, (3) loyalty: standing with and […]