Sociology & Anthropology Masters Theses

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An analysis of intersecting factors influencing first-generation college student enrollment
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Johnson, Anne
This study examined the impact of college visits on first-generation college students (FGCS). Specifically, I analyzed data from a midsized university in the upper Midwest to understand the the intersecting effect of variables on FGCS’s choices for attending college. I tested four hypotheses by conducting logistic regression models using the focal variables of the number of campus visits, estimated family contribution, race, high school grade point average, and gender. Results showed that visiting campus, a student’s race, being female, and grade point average significantly impacted their likelihood of enrolling at this university. FGCS who were Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino were substantially less likely to enroll compared to FGCS who were White. When looking at race and college visits, increased college visits indicated higher chances for enrollment for most FGCS; however, Black/African American students’ chance of enrolling decreased with additional campus visits.
Are Rural North Dakota Hospitals Prepared for a Disaster? An Exploratory Study
(North Dakota State University, 2009) Walter, Melissa Beth
This study examined the disaster preparedness plans within selected rural North Dakota hospitals. The ultimate goal was to explore rural North Dakota hospitals' disaster preparedness plans, gathering information that would provide answers to some key disaster preparedness questions. This study looked at the steps these hospitals have taken, but also what they have planned for in terms of surge capacity, plan activation, and implementation of the disaster plan and training that goes along with it. Several themes emerged from the data that brought new light to the research. These themes included reviewing and revising the disaster preparedness plans, memoranda of understanding, disaster preparedness plan activation, all-hazards planning, training and exercising the disaster preparedness plan, liability and insurance, community representation, and surge capacity. Specific thoughts about rural hospital disaster preparedness versus urban hospital disaster preparedness were also discussed. The significance of the study and suggestions for future research were also presented.
Primary Health Care Provider Differences in the Management of Preschool Aged Children's Mental Health Issues
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Erickson, Kendra Nicole
This thesis examined health care providers' methods of identification and treatment of preschool aged children's (age 0 to 5) mental health issues and barriers to those methods in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. I used a quantitative approach and utilized secondary data from a 2007 Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Study. The conceptual framework of the domains of expertise guided this thesis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences by type of health care providers' methods to identify and treat preschool aged children's mental health issues; to identify how barriers to indentifying and treating children's mental health issues differ by type of health care provider; and to investigate the possible contextual characteristics that influence the methods used by health care providers to identify and treat preschool aged children's mental health issues. Findings from this research suggested that there is limited support for the theoretical framework of the socialization of physicians and non-physicians: domains of expertise, which indicated that differences should exist regarding the identification and treatment of children's mental health issues based on the type of health care provider (i.e., physician and non-physician). However, there were several notable exceptions. There were several differences based on the type of providers' treatment methods. There also were a number of differences based on health care providers' type of practice (i.e.,pediatric group practice and walk-in practice) regarding their identification level of sensitivity and treatment methods.
Paleopathological Conditions Presenting in a Collection of Juveniles from a Merovingian Site in Central Germany
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Locket, Lacey Laura
This thesis explores the pathological conditions that affected a juvenile skeletal population dating to the Merovingian ages in what is now central Germany. The goal of this research is to gain an understanding of the physical health of this sub-adult population through the use of physical anthropology and historical evidence. In 1960 the cemetery ofMannheim-Vogelstang was excavated, revealing 149 juvenile skeletons dating from the sixth to the eighth century CE. Of the 149 recovered from the site, 105 were used in this research. These individuals were thoroughly visually examined for any indication of nutritional, infectious or congenital conditions, as well as evidence of trauma. All individuals were closely examined and any abnormalities were noted. Signs of porotic hyperostosis, hypoplasia, abnormal bending/bowing, fractures, abnormal growth, caries and dental abscesses were all present in this population. Porotic hyperostosis (PH) was the most prevalent pathological condition found in this population. Signs of porotic hyperostosis were found in 21.49% of the individuals. Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) was the second most common condition found within this population, occurring in 11.21 % of the individual. Signs of PH and LEH are both indicators of metabolic distress. SD08, 600-620CE, revealed the largest number of individuals with signs of pathological conditions.
The Historic Fargo Theatre: A Symbol of Collective Memory and Community Consciousness
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Rau, Jessica Lynn
The Fargo Theatre has been the gem of the Fargo, North Dakota, area for eightytwo years and is at the epicenter of the community's collective history. The theatre has hosted independent films, musical productions, vaudeville, social and political meetings, festivals, celebrations, and most importantly, memories of the people of this community, past and present. It is a physical structure that has evolved into a symbol with diverse meanings for all who know of its existence. Individual experiences and the symbolic meanings that make up the collective consciousness of the theatre, and therefore the community, are the focus of this study. By representing diverse threads of collective memory far beyond those of mere entertainment, the Fargo Theatre is a significant and enduring symbol of Fargo's collective memory and community consciousness. Relying heavily on the theoretical work of the symbolic anthropologist Victor Turner, this study encapsulates a community spirit by exploring the life of the theatre through the memory culture of theatre patrons, theatre employees, and citizens of the Red River Valley. The accumulation of symbols and stories about the Fargo Theatre provides insight into the memory culture of our region, as well as focused insight into the Fargo community itself. The theatre is a vital part of the community consciousness via other realms of experience that are not necessarily divorced from the entertainment and pleasure aspects of the theatre. Exploring these various realms reveals unexpected symbolic richness.
Downtown Fargo: Stakeholder Struggles and the Crisis ofldentity
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Bergenheier, Lindsay Alair
This research sought to discover the social impact of demographic, aesthetic, and economic neighborhood restructuring in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 cultural, economic, and practical community stakeholders, comprised of downtown Fargo residents, business owners, and community service providers. Their narratives are used to explore how spatial and economic change has been perceived, as well as how similarities and differences between economic, cultural, and practical stakeholders have shaped their perceptions of the neighborhood. This research discovers that downtown stakeholders actively manage the social identity of their community by accentuating speci fie aspects of the neighborhood, creating an idyllic origin story for the neighborhood and an anti-suburban character for the space. The similarities and differences between participants' community perceptions stem from the different roles they play in the community, and issues of power and marginalization are tied to the process of economic neighborhood revival. Contributions to scholarly literature on community development, urban sociology, space-based theorizing, and an expansion of stakeholder theory is discussed. The process of community restructuring in downtown Fargo has entailed a redistribution of cultural and economic power, and the narratives given about this community are found to be both a source of social marginalization and potential political action and empowennent.
Does Social Capital Always Affect Immigrant Employment? Analyzing the Mediating Effect of United States’ Cultural Context on the Relationship Between Social Capital and Immigrant Employment
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Kole, Debarati
The paper investigates if culture mediates the relation between immigrants’ social capital and the likelihood of employment in a host country. It applies Social Capital Theory to predict potential effects of culture and then, conducts statistical tests on data for two distinct periods in United States history. Results are consistent with prior findings that social capital enhances the likelihood of employment for immigrants. In general, culture did not affect the efficacy of social capital on increasing the likelihood of immigrant employment, though there was an effect of culture on the quantity of bridging capital and immigrants’ trust in members of the host country. In particular, non-white immigrants had fewer bridging ties and lower levels of Trust in 2018, when the culture was significantly less hospitable to new immigrants on a number of factors.
Understanding Rural Red Communities: Socialist History and Structural Causes of Contemporary Ideologies in North Dakota
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Mathews, Marisa Nicole
The rural-urban divide is discussed between scholars (Pew Research Center, 2018), politicians (Siegler, 2020), and everyday Americans (Badger, 2019). Those in urban blue states (majority voting Democrat) blame those in rural red states (majority voting Republican) for being racist, sexist, and homophobic and rural red states blame urban blue states for being bleeding hearts, lazy, and elitist (Hochschild, 2016, p. 227). This research brings a nuanced perspective to common perceptions of rural red communities. Through historical research of the socialist movement in North Dakota and interviews of rural North Dakotans, I analyze the broader reasons for a Republican majority. I discuss how North Dakotans reconcile this history with the current Republican majority by using a capitalist lens. Additionally, I discuss how the structural conditions of the economy, religion, and race in North Dakota result in an ideological fear of outsiders and reinforce a shared rural identity and cultural conservatism.
Pioneers and Pestilence: Emotion, Memory, and Historical Narratives at the Harrison Township Cholera Cemetery
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Hubin, David Royce
This thesis examines the interplay between emotion and social memory in the historical narrative (re)formation of the Harrison Township Cholera Cemetery in the village of Lockbourne, Pickaway County, Ohio. The research agenda includes a contextualization and critical assessment of documents and oral traditions as labors of representation. These are subsequently analyzed for their alignment with, or deviation from, the bioarchaeological record at the cemetery. The result is an interpretation of the past that will continue to be tested and refined as part of an ongoing multidisciplinary research project. This thesis provides valuable insight regarding attitudes of disease and death in 19th -century Ohio, and importantly, how those attitudes are expressed in the bioarchaeological record at a historical cemetery – a rare opportunity in the United States. Finally, a reflexive aspect of this thesis aims to explore the ways in which archaeological interpretation becomes part of this ever-changing and contextdependent historical narrative dialogue.
Vaccine Skeptical Mothers in the Upper Midwest and their Kitchen-based Care Practices
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Haarstick, Kimberly Allison
While many Americans view vaccination and medical intervention as benefits to society and for the greater good, vaccine skeptical mothers not only reject vaccinations but most biomedical interventions as well. In place of biomedical interactions vaccine skeptical mothers here focused on daily care practices centered around a healthy diet and eating whole foods. Further, they then create alternative forms of care that are founded in their kitchens and based on their own expertise as mothers, rather than with the expertise of biomedical experts. Based on nineteen months of in-person and virtual ethnographic research in a mid-size Upper Midwestern city in the United States, this research sheds light on the broader relationships between mothers who reject biomedicine and their caregiving in contemporary America.
Exploring the Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Domestic Violence Victim-Serving Agencies and Professionals
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Bibi, Damaris Enyonam Mosope Eyitayo
This study explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the domestic violence victim-serving agencies and professionals through the interview responses of eight professionals working in domestic violence shelters in rural North Dakota. It develops from a gendered perspective, using the work of Connell and Messerschmidt, (2005), as well as the ways in which intersectionality can help frame the way shelters and other services impact women from differently based on issues of race, class, gender, and geographical location (Crenshaw 1991). The results indicate two sets of themes that reflect both the challenges providers faced prior to the pandemic, as well as the ways those challenges were exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. During the pandemic, the collective responsibility actions implemented through intentional communication strategies within and between agencies within rural North Dakota proved effective in addressing the challenges and keeping agencies’ daily operations running smoothly.
Parents of Children with Autism: The Stigma and Emotion Work Associated with Navigating, Advocating, and Managing Autism
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Stark, Paige DeAna
This study analyzes the experiences of stigmatization and emotion work through the interview responses of eight parents of children with autism. Developing from Goffman’s theories of direct stigma and associative stigma this research integrates Hochschild’s emotion work as a way that parents respond to the stigmatization that they encounter. The results of this study indicate that some parents of children with autism perform suppressive emotion work in the way they respond to stigmatization and obstacles that occur when raising a child with special needs. In addition, stigma occurs in interactions with close friends and family members, creating issues of boundary-crossing. Parents of children with autism respond to stigma by educating those closest to them and normalizing the experiences of themselves and their child. In order to cope with the hardships of stigma, some parents also work to advocate, problem-solve, and build community beyond their immediate relationships.
The Effects of Traditional Gender Norms on the Fate of Girls' Education in Tajikistan
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Yakubova, Parvina
Tajikistan is the only post-Soviet republic that went through a civil war after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which negatively impacted all aspects of the country as well as education, particularly girls’ education. The limitations on Tajik girls’ education are due to economics and gender norms that are critical factors. This paper highlights the girls’ education condition in the period from 1995 to 2019, which is the post-war period, in the capital city, Dushanbe, and rural areas of the country. The review answered why girls most likely choose family life (marriage and children) rather than pursuing higher education in their life. In order to study this issue, the study used primary data. This paper studied the traditional culture (gender norms) factor as a barrier to keep girls out of school while providing the context of the social and occurred political changes during the post-war to the present time.
Lithic Organization, Mobility, and Place-Making at the Frog Bay Site: A Community-Based Approach
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Cheli, Elizabeth Louise
The Frog Bay site (47BA60) has been excavated for three field seasons. Excavations in 1979 located the site and continued in 2018 – 2019 by the Geté Anishinaabe Izhichigéwin community archaeological field school. This program commenced from a sovereignty initiative surrounding the creation of the Frog Bay Tribal National Park directed by the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Within the park, the Frog Bay site represents a multicomponent shorebased camp that was occupied numerous times during the Archaic and Woodland stages (ca. 3000 BC – AD 900). Structured through a community-based Indigenous theoretical framework, lithic analysis and community input are used to research long-term practices of mobility, land use, and place-making associated with the Frog Bay site. These methods offer a “braided interpretation” of the activities and occupation trends at Frog Bay and explore the intrinsic value that the site continues to hold for the present-day Red Cliff community.
How It Meets the Eye: Altering Locus of Control Through Environmental Data Visualization
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Wilhelmi, Briana Rose
Locus of control (LOC), first defined as a trait determining one’s sense of control over outcomes, continues to be refined. Originally treated as a generalized expectancy, scholars have extended its range for queries in specific domains (e.g., health, workplace, environmental behaviors), and, in more recent years, have suggested reformulating the concept as a state, based on evidence indicating its susceptibility to change. This paper builds on work suggesting a relationship between data visualization techniques and LOC by presenting the results of an experiment aiming to manipulate environmental internal LOC by varying the number of graphical elements in bar charts. Environmental issues, presenting cause for concern and a need for urgent action, provide a timely area for application—and one in which a shift toward internal locus of control carries substantial benefits, as research indicates a strong link between internal LOC and participation in pro-environmental behaviors.
Sexual Health Perspectives of Pastoral Adolescent Girls in Samburu County
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Odera, Doreen Awino
Teenage girls from the Turkana pastoral community in Northern Kenya have varying views of sexuality. Some parents choose to send their daughters to school creating disparate levels of knowledge about their bodies and sexual health. To better evaluate these differences, girls (13-18 years) were asked to develop body maps, a methodological technique that enables verbal and visual data collection. Interviews and participant observations were also used to gather data. This research involved a total of 33 participants and included both school going and non-school going girls. Triangulation of data from Interviews, participant observation, and body mapping provided multiple angles into the female pastoralist’s life experiences. The study demonstrated the heterogeneity and disparities that are present within pastoralists population in Samburu county, providing a more detailed understanding for future medical anthropological studies. The research furthered anthropological inquiry methodologically by introducing body mapping as a complement to conducting traditional ethnographic research.
A Geospatial Analysis of the Northeastern Plains Village Complex: An Exploration of a GIS-Based Multidisciplinary Method for the Incorporation of Western and Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the Discovery of Diagnostic Prehistoric Settlement Patterns
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Lindsey, Daniel Clayton
This thesis research analyzes how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) can be used to understand extant Northeastern Plains Village (NEPV) settlement strategies in aggregate for the purposes of subjoining a subsequent verification metric to the current archaeological classification system used to describe NEPV associated sites. To accomplish this task, I extracted Traditional Ecological Knowledge from ethnographic sources for comparison to geospatial, geostatistical, and statistical analyses. My results show that the hierarchical clustering exhibited among NEPV sites is congruent with first person narratives of habitation and resource collection activities occurring in the pre-Reservation period (before AD 1880) within the research area. This study emphasizes the importance of the incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into material typological classification schemes for archaeological sites which are convoluted by a high rates of cultural transmission.
Integration of Bosnian Immigrant Women in the US
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Basic, Elvedina
The number of immigrants from different countries has increased in the United States in the past few years. Fargo/ Moorhead area was enriched with individuals and families from various post-war and undeveloped countries. Immigrants face challenges that are far more significant than adjusting to a new lifestyle, a new way of dressing, or a new climate. This paper will discuss the immigration process of the Bosnian women and how the resettlement affected their acculturation process, with a focus on their integration process into the new host community. Although the Bosnian population is a small and slowly growing population, it is becoming a significant part of US society. This paper should give more insight into understanding the assimilation and acculturation process of Bosnian women. Online oral histories of brave Bosnian women I have used, emphasize the importance of doing more research about immigrant integration in the new environment.
Political Representation of Visible Minorities at the Local Level: A Case Study
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Edwards, Janice Marie
Visible minorities – i.e., persons defined by the Government of Canada as those who are not Aboriginal, Caucasian in race, or white in color – account for roughly 22% of Canada’s population. Yet this group continues to be underrepresented as political candidates and elected officials in many municipal councils across Canada. Assessing the state and quality of a nation’s democracy ought to consider the extent to which citizens are politically engaged. In an effort to understand the representational deficit of visible minorities at the municipal level, this study assesses the scope of visible minority representation in Winnipeg, Canada. The results demonstrate that although visible minorities are underrepresented at Winnipeg’s City Council, this group is currently better represented than at any point in council’s history. The findings are also consistent with what the literature unanimously reveals about incumbency – it continues to be a strong predictor of electoral success in local elections.
School Integration in Arizona's White Mountains
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Reeck, Adam Nicholas
Due to Arizona’s mandated open enrollment policy for public schools, Blue Ridge Unified School District’s (BRUSD) population of Native American students has increased by 148% over the last 12 years as students migrate into BRUSD from Whiteriver Unified School District (WUSD) on the Fort Apache Reservation. This research examines the short-term effects of school choice policy in BRUSD by addressing the following sub-problems: 1) What are the administrative and faculty perceptions of changes affecting BRUSD? 2) What are the measured changes affecting BRUSD? Key findings include decreases in some test scores while other scores increase. Also, faculty is convinced the school is moving in positive directions as it deals with other comprehensive changes. Recommendations include that BRUSD incorporate best practices in schooling diverse populations and in Native American pedagogy. The overall conclusion is that BRUSD has a unique opportunity to provide a quality education for a diverse community of learners.

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