Browsing by Subject "university"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A qualitative examination of culture shock and the influential factors affecting newly-arrived Korean students at Texas A&M University(2009-05-15) McLeod, Kent DoehrThe primary purpose of the study was to reveal the perceptions of three newlyarrived male Korean students enrolled in Texas A&M University during the 2007 fall semester regarding their experiences with culture shock and the reasons they ascribed for this phenomenon through three in-depth, individualized interviews and weekly L1 journals. The manner in which they responded to the culture shock as well as the influential factors that assisted them in coping was also explored. By using a constant comparative method of analysis, the collected data was scrutinized and analyzed for emerging patterns. To assist in this process, the data was input into computer files and analyzed using the software program NVivo 7. The findings uncovered the existence of some degree of culture shock for each of the three participants at different times throughout the semester. In particular, a comparatively much higher incidence of interpersonal and psychological symptoms of culture shock than of physiological ones was displayed. Strong support for the individual nature of culture shock was also exhibited. In addition, the participants? perceptions of the experiences as well as their ability to cope or not cope with culture shock revealed a capacity to overcome obstacles and reflect upon differences. Support for the majority of the factors hypothesized to be influential in helping or hindering the participants? ability to cope with culture shock was exhibited. The noteworthy impact of the participants? personal outlook, marital status, length of stay in the U.S., religiosity, and previous international experience on lessening the effects of culture shock was found. The influence of English, the university, and social connectedness, however, was important in increasing their adjustment stress. The cultural and ethnic differences between Korea and the U.S. were found to be the source of highly individual challenges faced by the participants during the study. As all the participants were males and their ages were within five years of each other, it was not possible to compare the influence of these variables among them. The only factor expected to have been influential in the participants? adjustments to culture shock that was not evident was counseling.Item Everything But: Exploring Definitions of Sexual Outercourse Among Undergraduate Students(2011-02-22) Menn, Mindy AlisonThis thesis analyzed if undergraduate students at a Southern university use the term outercourse to describe sexual behaviors that exclude penile-vaginal intercourse. A literature review revealed that no universal definition of outercourse exists and no forward progression toward a more cohesive definition was observed. Furthermore, 22 various sexual behaviors were recognized as possible outercourse behaviors. Following the literature review, a quantitative study with a minor qualitative component was conducted at a large Southern university. For this phase, 426 students responded to a 34-item online survey. After providing basic demographic information, students were asked to select the single term to describe sexual behaviors that do not include penile-vaginal intercourse. Furthermore, students were asked to determine whether or not they would classify 28 various sexual behaviors as outercourse. The respondents were provided space after each behavior to qualify or elaborate upon any uncertainty they had about the classification of a behavior. Frequencies were tabulated for the qualitative responses to each behavior. The number of comments ranged from 2 to 85 and sadomasochistic activity garnered the most comments (85). Frequency statistics were computed for all quantitative variables. Crosstabs were calculated to determine the demographic characteristics of respondents and non-respondents for each behavior. The results revealed that a majority of the respondents were female (67.4%) and heterosexual (95.5%). Respondents preferred the term "fooling around" (63.4%) instead of outercourse (3.4%) to refer to sexual behaviors that exclude penile-vaginal intercourse. The respondents determined ten behaviors to be outercourse, five behaviors to not be outercourse, and 13 behaviors could not be classified due to the lack of a majority response. For each of the sexual behaviors, approximately 25% of the sample did not provide a response. Crosstabs revealed that freshmen students were more likely than their upperclassman counterparts to omit a response to a behavior. In contrast, juniors were most likely to respond to the sexual behavior questions. The findings from this thesis have provided a catalyst for future interdisciplinary research endeavors and practical implications for health educators and medical professionals who work with undergraduate students.Item Who are Climbing the Walls? An Exploration of the Social World of Indoor Rock Climbing(2011-02-22) Kurten, Jason HenryThis study is an exploratory look at the social world of indoor rock climbers, specifically, those at Texas A&M University. A specific genre of rock climbing originally created to allow outdoor rock climbers a place to train in the winter, indoor climbing has now found a foothold in areas devoid of any natural rock and has begun to develop a leisure social world of its own providing benefit to the climbers, including social world members. This study explored this social world of indoor rock climbing using a naturalistic model of inquiry and qualitative methodology, specifically Grounded Theory (Spradley, 1979; Strauss & Corbin, 2008). This research borrows from the literature on social world theory, serious leisure as well as specialization. This study confirmed indoor rock climbing to be a form of serious leisure for some participants. Furthermore, it found the social world of indoor rock climbing at Texas A&M provides a deep sense of belonging to some members who were found to coalesce at a mesostructural level into a confederacy of peers (R. A. Stebbins, 1993). Bouldering was found to be an avenue for social world entry for men but the female experience in social world entry was found to be different. The most prominent finding of the study was that the facility itself provides a place of belonging for social world members, even diverse and different groups which, outside of the social world, may be expected to come into conflict. Lastly, it was found that the social world has the ability to mediate conflict or negative experiences arising from competition and feelings of risk and fear. This exploratory study is expected to provide a framework for which to conduct further, more in depth studies into phenomena affecting the lives and experiences of indoor rock climbers. Furthermore this study has practical significance in assisting climbing wall managers to better understand the culture that surrounds and utilizes the facilities they operate. A review of the current literature on rock climbing, research questions that guided the study and methodologies, as well as the study results and conclusions are discussed in this paper.