Widener University

 

One of the ways Widener Social Science students experience "hands-on" learning is through an extensive, year-long senior project. Students present senior projects to the entire Social Science Division at the end of the year and the division nominates outstanding projects to the Senior Project Honor Roll.

This past years honor roll members include:

Psychology

“Examination of Impressions Based on Self-Presentation on Facebook”
By Jaime Cafaro, Colleen Fail, Erica Melfe and Theresa Ulmer

This research examined the connection between social networking sites and perceptions, based on Facebook profiles. Sixty-five Widener students were shown two Facebook profiles followed by a series of questions, respectively, in a lab setting. Each profile was manipulated by gender and positive versus negative comments. It was hypothesized that the type of comments and gender of the profile owner would affect the perceptions of the participants. There were significant differences between the four types of profiles and perceptions based on personality dimensions, alcohol use, academic performance, trustworthiness, and social attractiveness. The importance of understanding perceptions based on social networking sites and suggestions for future research are discussed.

“Consumer Ethnocentrism and Purchasing Behavior”
By Laura Benick, Dennis Iaccarino, Missy Tipton, and Jim Wallace

This study examined product preferences based on participants’ gender and ethnocentrism, and the type of country from which the products originated. It was hypothesized than male participants and highly ethnocentric participants would be less supportive of using products from abroad than females and low ethnocentric participants. In addition, it was hypothesized that there would be a preference for products that were produced by a country perceived as supportive of the United States over products from a more hostile country. Statistical significance was not found for either gender or ethnocentrism. However, strong support was found for products produced by a supportive rather than a hostile country. Explanations for these findings and ideas for future research are presented.

“Differences in Working Memory Recall Based on Aspects of Music and Item Type”
By Kiley Griffith, Samantha Miller, Matthew Mull and Brittany Russell

This study examined how music and item type relates to working memory recall based on the item type, the volume of the music, and whether or not the music has lyrics. It was hypothesized that memory recall will be better with soft music than loud music. It was also hypothesized that memory recall will be better with no lyrics than with lyrics. The last hypothesis was that memory recall will be better with words than with pictures. To measure memory recall, music was played that was either loud or soft, had lyrics or no lyrics while presenting participants with pictures or words which they had to memorize during the amount of time the music was played. Inconsistent with the hypothesis, the scores for memory recall with soft music were not higher than loud music. Also, inconsistent with the hypothesis, the scores for memory recall with no lyrics were not higher than with lyrics. Lastly inconsistent with the hypothesis, the scores for memory recall were higher for pictures than words. Explanations of the differences and considerations for future studies are discussed.

Criminal Justice

“Professional Experiences and Perceptions of the Prosecution Process of Internet Child Sexual Predators”
By Sarah Clements, Kaitlyn Friess, Carly Graffeo and Matt Peifer

The purpose of this research is to explore how those involved in the criminal justice system react to internet sexual crimes against children. Data are based on interviews with detectives, district attorneys, public defenders, judges, and computer analysts in four Pennsylvania counties. We have assessed their attitudes towards internet sex crimes, their specializations, the jurisdictional significance of a crime, and the laws and problems associated with these crimes. We compare and contrast participants’ perceptions. This study brings knowledge to the academic community about the nature of internet sex offenders and how criminal justice officials must work diligently with the advances in technology to maintain the safety of online cyber communities.

Government & Politics / Criminal Justice

“The Quantifiable Influences on UCR Clearance Rates”
By Marc Oxenford, Ashlee Starratt and Erin Williams

Clearance rates differ over time as do certain types of crimes, namely violent and property crimes. There are various factors which account for the variance in clearance rates for certain types of crimes. Some factors are law enforcement related, such as police activity levels in regards to an active or passive approach, and other factors are non-law enforcement related, such as unemployment and expenditures. This study examined both quantifiable law enforcement factors as well as quantifiable non-law enforcement factors to the UCR clearance rates for both property and violent crime for the years 1984 to 2007. The law enforcement factors that were measured were the full time officer rate and the police activity level in regards to an active or passive approach. The non-law enforcement factors that were measured were population size, expenditures and the unemployment rate.

Communication Studies

“Healing on Broad Street: Devising an IMC Campaign to Educate Philadelphia on Health Care Issues & Promote Broad Street Ministry’s Health Initiative”
By Christie Ferraiolo, Amber Lutz, Colleen O’Sullivan and Keith Wilson

A health care campaign was devised to target both the uninsured in Philadelphia, and opinion leaders, policy makers, and role models who can affect change. Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation and Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory helped to further explain the target markets. With this research, an integrated marketing communications plan was created for Broad Street Ministry’s Health Initiative. A palm card and flyer/poster was completed to reach the insured and promote Broad Street Ministry’s events and services. Additional materials, including a radio PSA, transit ads, media kit, and brochure were produced for policy makers, role models, and opinion leaders. Two focus groups were conducted to ensure the effectiveness of all the materials and guide the group in finalizing production


“Building Awareness in Chester: Developing an IMC Campaign for Communities that Care”
By Dominique Kidd, Jon Owens and Andrees Rivers

Using Albert Bandura’s “Social Learning Theory”, the senior capstone group attempted to bridge an awareness gap between Communities that Care (CTC) and the community in Chester, Pa. In doing so, an Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC) was produced for CTC, including: two radio Public Service Announcements (PSA), an informational pamphlet, a newsletter, a promotional video, and a video PSA. To test these materials, two focus groups were conducted to find out how CTC’s target audiences of teens and adults in Chester, receive information. In addition, the focus groups were also instrumental in the creation and finalizing of the promotional materials. In essence, the completed IMC campaign provided more awareness of CTC in the Chester community.

Anthropology

“The Race Myth: How Forensic Anthropologists Determine Race”
By Rebecca McCabe

By definition, race is a term that refers to distinct interbreeding populations within a species. In a biological sense, among Homo sapiens racial differences are almost non-existent, as there is more genetic variation within any “race” than between them. The range of characteristics we use culturally to define race like skin color, eye shape, or hair are biologically coded but not distributed in populations in a way to define geographically distinct groups or races. Nonetheless, to identify victims of crime, Forensic anthropologists often use those non-racial biological traits to help identify individuals via their skeleton. A science resulting from analysis done on the relationship of biological features of the living to the skeletal structures of the dead, “racial” identification can be performed in a number of ways. For example, variations of the crania and post-cranial skeleton are used as indicators of “race,” and these features can be ascertained through metric and non-metric approaches. This project discusses the differences between scientific race and the use of biological traits for identification, and gives examples of how a forensic anthropologist may determine to a high point of accuracy what an individual looked like before death from their skeletal remains.