RSS 1.0Sociology electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Sociology. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Recent Submissions
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Resistance to the dominant economic discourses : making sense of the economy from a working-class neighborhood
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This study explores the way that working-class people contest dominant economic discourses and how they develop alternative explanations for their economic situation. Based on qualitative interviews, participant observation, ... -
Living and dying Lakota : an ethnography of a tribal nursing home
(2017)This ethnographic research looks at people who reside, visit, and work at a Native American tribal nursing home. Using grounded theory to sort through 18 months of participant observations, extensive fieldnotes, and 22 ... -
Retail work lives : precarity and belonging in Queens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)This dissertation is an ethnographic study of retail work in Queens, New York. Through 10 months of fieldwork and 52 interview with retail workers, I look at how workers find meaning and belonging in precarious jobs. Retail ... -
Parents' perspectives on sex education : nuanced accommodation in a bilaterally constructed world
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)Research on sex education regularly presents a polarized depiction of debate, which often puts parents on the defensive and condenses their viewpoints into incongruous, dichotomous camps. This study aims to challenge this ... -
The Negro migrant in St. Louis
(University of Missouri, 1918)Text from page 2: "The purpose of this investigation is to ascertain the conditions of negro migrants in this city, and to learn what additional opportunities they need. Migration to the city will not be seriously diminished ... -
Liminal lives : presentation of self among Muslim immigrants in a small Midwestern city
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] -
Strange and familiar : narratives of embodiment and objects after breast cancer
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)Pink ribbon culture has, for better or worse, helped to transform survivors' experiences with breast cancer. Scholars argue that pink ribbon culture has shaped the types of narratives shared, informs normative depictions ... -
Distilling whiteness : prohibition of alcohol and Americanization of German-Americans in Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] In the field of sociology, Joseph Gusfield (1963) is considered the leading authority on the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in 1919. ... -
Feeding others' children : a comparative ethnography of school food service employees and how they make meaning
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Utilizing 18 months of participant observation, 25 in-depth interviews and numerous textual sources, this research is an ethnography at an elementary, ... -
Selling wellness : the cultural politics of holistic health in the U.S.
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)Currently, holistic health and lifestyle medicine are growing sectors of the U.S. health care market (Fadlon 2005). The term "holistic" entered the U.S. medical discourse in the 1970s and refers to the treatment of the ... -
Remaking lives and community in the gooseless goose capital of the world
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Climate change is disrupting and will continue to disrupt peoples' lives and communities all over the world. Nevertheless, a vast majority of research ... -
Suspicion, competence, and coping in preschool teachers’ identity work
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The purpose of this research is to explore and analyze the everyday complexities of being a preschool teacher. I spent two years doing ethnographic research in a Montessori preschool and collected twenty-three interviews ... -
Social Organization of Authenticity in Mexican Restaurants
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)This dissertation analyzes the social worlds of the Mexican restaurant industry. First, the topic of organizational constructions and presentations of authenticity is investigated. In examining the relation between discourses ... -
A Case Study of Organizational Culture Change in a Hospital
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation presents a case study that describes and analyzes the organizational culture change that occurred at a hospital over a period of time ... -
The Women's Cultural and Social Society (WCSS) : Its role in shaping women's political participation in Kuwait (1963-2010)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)Feminism and women's rights movements are often seen as concepts and activities that originated within the West. As it is important to examine sociological concepts where they occur, this study reviews these concepts within ... -
The Social Complexity of Woman and Child Valuation in Rural Bangladesh
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation is about the lives of women and girls during a period of economic and demographic change in rural Bangladesh. This bulk of this change, ... -
Landscapes of Belonging: Cuban Ethnicity, Class, and Community
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation compares the life stories of Cubans in Miami, Florida and Baracoa, Cuba to explore how Cubans in different cultural spaces define ... -
Discursive Resources in the Everyday Construction of Engineering Knowledge
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014) -
Aging well: The effect of community and social resources on subjective wellbeing among older South Africans
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] -
Classlessness as Doxa: Late Modernity and Changing Perceptions of Class Division in Iceland
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.]