This study provides an overview of topics related to ecolabels and examines consumer perceptions of sustainability given different ecolabels. An internet based survey was used, and different ecolabels were found to have variant impacts on consumer perceptions of sustainability using descriptive statistics. More research concerning the perceptions of ecolabels on...
Globally, it is estimated that over 2,518,200 tons of hides and skins were exported in the year 2011 alone, with an estimated world production yield of 23 billion square feet of finished leather (FA0, 2011; Mwinyihija, 2011). While some manufacturers have adopted eco-friendly production methods, most tanneries still practice the...
The purpose of this study was to determine how the popular writer Wilkie Collins used dress and appearance to bring to light concerns about mental illness in his 1859-60 sensation novel The Woman in White. The method of narrative analysis was used to complete this study. Data sheets were developed...
Working conditions in the international garment industry have long been a concern and a process to assess and certify fair trade practices was developed as a means by which to improve those conditions. Standards for fair trade apparel include safe working conditions, fair wages, compliance with laws, and reduced environmental...
This ethnographic study describes the patterns of decorating in the study rooms of university sorority women. The primary method of data were collection was by means of interviews with sorority members. Observations and photographs of the study rooms of these members supplemented the interviews and provided validation for categorization purposes....
This study sought to fill a void in research literature supporting Attention Restoration Theory (ART) and the beneficial effects of exposure to natural, green spaces. The literature predominantly discusses studies with adult and older child participants, finding that exposure to natural environments often produces an attention-restoring effect. ART has been...
For more than 30 years, researchers have investigated the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) platforms on athletic performance. WBV is a modality in which an individual stands on a vibrating platform to obtain performance effects. Frequency and amplitude of the vibration are the commonly adjusted parameters. The use of...
Architects and engineers are two key types of design professionals who influence the use of wood products in construction. Eighty to ninety percent by volume of all residential structures in the U.S. are wood (Gupta, 2005). In 2010, the non-residential market was made up by 10% wood, 60% steel and...
Scholars promote the ability of visual imagery to have a number of political campaigning benefits such as influencing opinions and attitudes and encouraging vibrant, striving democracy while improving the quality of public knowledge and opinion. However, previous research on this subject has failed to identify how presidential candidates display their...
As the growth in demand for sustainable manufacturing continues, companies must begin to make conscious design decisions with regard to the sustainability of their products. This means balancing economics of production with environmental and social performance. Thus, design and manufacturing engineers must consider economic, environmental, and social aspects simultaneously when...
The effect of land uses on neighboring property values is of critical interest to urban planners, developers, and citizens. Property values are in part defined by built structure and lot characteristics, locational attributes (e.g., proximity to amenities and disamenities), and other features such as views from a property. The effects...
In the U.S. there are increasing energy demands that require an ever-increasing need for the large-scale use of new energy resources. Specifically, sporadic renewable energy sources are being incorporated into utility energy portfolios. Thus, supporting stationary energy storage technologies are needed to make these renewable sources reliable and feasible for...
The shoe repair transaction, as it occurs in the 5000 or so remaining shoe repair shops in the United States, is currently unexamined in academic literature for the significance it holds for either shoe repairers or their customers. Making use of both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, this...
The purpose of this study was to compare the proposed women's college styles for day and evening in selected magazines to the documented apparel of college women from Oregon State College in the 1949-1957 time period. The historic method and visual analysis methods were used to complete this study. An...
The present study examined the influence of the
demographic variables of age, gender, major in college, and
level of education or class standing on individuals' stage
of moral development. Trevino's interactionist model,
combined with the basic principles of cognitive moral
development, provided the theoretical basis for this study.
One-hundred and...
Little empirical research has been conducted on self-gifts
as a phenomenon of consumer behavior. A review of
literature demonstrated that the phenomenon of self-gifts has
been studied from the conceptual aspect, such as self-gift
functions. Yet, our knowledge of self-gifts still remains
limited because many of the determinants of self-gifts...
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) site selection protocol was used to generate a random sample of streams throughout the state of Oregon. One hundred and forty-six selected streams were sampled during the summer, low-flow period of 1997. Traditional microbial public health indicators, including heterotrophic plate counts (HPC), total...
Legislation can be an effective public health tool, and understanding the factors that influence legislative outcomes is advantageous for public health practitioners who propose and advocate for legislation. The literature indicates that the issues of personal freedoms, the presence or absence of strong coalition leadership, and political conditions and ideology...
Despite the perceived importance of grab bars to facilitate aging-in-place and healthy aging, many community-dwelling older adults do not have them installed. The aim of this study was to investigate predictors of grab bar installation among well-educated community dwelling seniors. Data was collected quantitatively through an electronic survey of Oregon...
The purpose of this study was to determine differences in the way a designer designs because of his or her cultural background. For example, would a designer from the US design with the same components of design in mind as someone from another country? The objective was not to explore...
The purpose of this study was to explore wedding dress styles represented in United States high fashion magazines during the World War II period. The objectives of the study were to: discover what wedding dress styles were proposed by high fashion magazines during the period 1935-45, determine if wedding dress...
This research presents a methodology to analyze customer needs and direct the gathering of customer needs that both span the need space and are independent. An ontological categorization, the fundamental research contribution of this work, is created to support both aims of the overall methodology. Providing designers with a customer...
The purpose of this study was to explore motivations behind participation in cosplay and the use of social media among cosplayers who maintain Facebook Artist Pages. Further focus was placed on investigating the role of Facebook Artist Pages in building fame. To explore such motivations, two theories were referenced: Deci...
Videotapes of 90 dyadic interactions from Sommer and Bernieri (2015) were examined to assess verbal and nonverbal intimacy. Verbal intimacy (self-disclosing statements) and nonverbal intimacy behaviors (face gaze, distance, body orientation, and forward lean) were coded in every interaction. It was hypothesized that verbal intimacy (self-disclosure) would increase over time...
Much research has been conducted to determine the difference between running barefoot verse the traditional heel strike running style. Each style of running requires parts of the foot to strike the ground differently. Shoe companies have addressed these differences by designing different styles of shoes for each running style. This...
The overarching purpose of this research was to determine characteristics of raw materials which impacted the consumption and design process of crafters. The characteristics were related to the three levels of design as described by Donald Norman and the concept of linking value in consumer tribes. The specific focus of...
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of dress and queer women and how their sexual identity influences their appearance management behaviors. I answered the following research questions: (1) How is gender identity constructed and negotiated in different spaces for queer? (2) Does sexual identity influence dress...
Firefighting is a very hazardous profession. Firefighters experience an injury rate that is three times higher than other physically demanding professions and the death rate in the fire service is also much higher compared to typical. Throughout the literature, data suggest the physical nature of firefighting contributes to the high...
Despite the increase in information on the causes of foodborne disease, outbreaks continue to be a major preventable public health problem. Current food service establishment inspection programs, however, are not designed to assess the potential of risk for foodborne disease and do not focus prevention efforts where food service problems...
The wood products industry is influenced heavily by family ownership along the entire value chain. Although family ownership affects each link of the wood products value chain, there has been little research into the importance of products originating from family forestland. Specific attributes of products, such as origin or environmental...
Optimal aging is strongly related to personality factors along with health-behavior habits. Personality has played a key role in understanding the interactions between human behavior and the environment and as a vital predictor in determining health outcomes of individuals. Although previous studies have found links between personality traits and health,...
The War Production Board issued limitation order 85 in April 1942 in order to conserve fabric and manpower needed for the war effort. The L-85 order froze the silhouette so no major style changes in women's wear would occur during the war. It is clear that on the one hand...
In this dissertation, I posited the need to understand how an invented community (the Society for Creative Anachronism) constructs symbolic meaning in material objects and value systems. Using ethnographic methods, I focused on the Knights and their regalia as this is the most widely accepted material symbolism. People go to...
The purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship among fashion media, the social responsibility agenda of the Audubon Society, and the use of birds in millinery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Both the content analysis method and the historic method were used to gain...
This study utilized the theoretical framework of selective optimization with compensation (SOC) (Baltes, 1987; Baltes & Baltes, 1990) to interpret older adults' definitions about successful aging in place. Factors contributing to successful aging in place, including the importance of social interaction and perceptions of the usefulness of interactive video communication...
The ever changing nature of the retail industry, and the additional challenges of doing business in a rural area, mean that retailers in rural communities face a unique situation that makes them especially vulnerable to outshopping by rural consumers. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate factors which...
Food Insecurity exists whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain (LSRO, 1990). Factors that increase a household's risk for food
insecurity include being low income and not being able to access formal and...
The purpose of this research study was to test a psychological theory of motivation called the Flow Theory by Csikszentmihalyi as it relates to non-industrial textile production activities. In using the Flow Theory, researchers attempt to explain why individuals continue participation with a specific activity; namely that the activity induces...
Female participation in high-contact sports has increased
dramatically in the past two decades, raising concern regarding injury to
the female breast and the need for protective equipment. While the use of
chest/breast protectors by women is advocated, little is known of their
efficacy and effect on athletic performance. The purpose...