Tag: Lightning Talk

Gianna Archuleta¹
Faculty Mentor: Levent Atici, Ph.D.^2
1Advanced Technologies Academy
²Division of Research, Office of Undergraduate Research

ABSTRACT
In wake of the Covid-19 Pandmeic, many concerned parties have called into question the mental health of students and children across the country due to extreme isolation. However, even before the pandemic, suicide rates among children 5-12 have been on an unprecedented rise. Not to mention, the current general belief that kids shouldn’t have mental health issues due to their age. In this analysis, suicide prevention resources made specifically for children were examined for their availability and efficiency in Nevada. Results showed that there were not many practical and available resources available specifically for children. Program training seemed to be available for staff, but programs dealing with children directly have little data or research. We conclude that children’s suicide is not being made a priority in a time when proper mental health and emotional regulation skills are incredibly important.

Yee Tay¹
Faculty Mentor: Levent Atici, Ph.D.^2
1Advanced Technologies Academy
²Division of Research, Office of Undergraduate Research

ABSTRACT
The research described in this paper seeks to answer the question “What aspects of social media make it more likely for an investor to make a financial decision?”. This study aims to analyze what partisan indicators influence a certain political ideology more and how that affects their financial decisions, specifically when buying and/or selling stocks through employing a qualitative method semi-structured interview. The semi-structured interviews are then coded in order to find the most prevalent themes and patterns. Results have found that more explicit labeling of partisan indicators is desired and initiatives taken by social media platforms to promote transparency increased trust. Other than answering the question, this study can help to provide insight to social media platforms on how to create more nonpartisan news feeds which would help Americans make better financial decisions. This information could also be utilized by investors, marketers, and anyone else who is interested in understanding why certain political ideologies make the financial decisions that they do.

Shazray Akbar¹
Faculty Mentor: Levent Atici, Ph.D.^2
1The Meadows School
²Division of Research, Office of Undergraduate Research

ABSTRACT
Advertising is a critical part of gaining traction for companies, so researching and utilizing the best forms and tactics in advertising have been a major part of growth and creating a consumer base. This study aimed to investigate the most effective form of advertisement that can successfully make a lasting impact on consumers and urge them to buy the product being advertised. When analyzing data over popular advertisements with high success rates in recent years, one form of advertisement stands out, with an effective tactic also being highlighted. When regarding form, online advertising, especially in today’s day and age, has the greatest impact on consumers, and such ads easily can be found while browsing popular sites and social media. These ads are repeatedly cemented in consumers’ brains, and with an increasingly interconnected world with a high level of internet usage, online advertising has become a more popular form of advertisement. Companies which advertise online are able to target their products towards demographics which are more likely to purchase their goods through using available data and search histories, being more effective for their investment when compared to broad, in-person advertising. Aside from form, one tactic that more directly relates to video advertisement is ads which invoke a sense of “relatability”. Companies create a story in which consumers can easily identify with, strengthening consumer response. By using online advertising and creating relatable ads when advertising in video format, companies are shown to have more effective ads which create a larger consumer base.

Patrick Dimasin¹
Faculty Mentor: Levent Atici, Ph.D.^2
1West Career and Technical Academy
²Division of Research, Office of Undergraduate Research

ABSTRACT
Historically, African American people have had an implicated relationship with the criminal justice system: higher arrest rates, higher conviction rates, and worse sentencing results are common, especially in drug-related crimes. In this study, I aim to identify the relationships of the social environments of participants in two categories, race and gender. Using the contact and threat hypothesis, I seek to analyze the correlation between positive and negative attitudes of “outgroup” individuals and the perception of what a “violent” criminal appears to be. Results from previous studies have affirmed that increased intergroup contact increases positive attitudes, but an increasing size of an ethnic outgroup increases the risk factor for negative attitudes like threat perception. Using a phenomenological foundation, I was able to conduct correlational research that found increased intergroup contact is more likely to lead to more “violent” perceptions of darker-skinned, male, drug-related criminals. These findings strongly suggest that threat hypothesis has a strong potential in controlling subconscious biases towards varying ethnic groups, and has a future in determining whether these findings hold true in other categories of crime. I suggest that if the threat hypothesis is true for public perception of criminals, then these results should provide a foundation for further inquiry of threat hypothesis’

Sarah Park¹
Faculty Mentor: Levent Atici, Ph.D.^2
1Ed W. Clark High School
²Division of Research, Office of Undergraduate Research

ABSTRACT
Presented in this study, is an in-depth analysis of the effects of energy companies greenwashing while focusing on the challenges that the status quo presents in transparency of companies’ environmental actions in a policy viewpoint in the United States. The purpose of my research was to see how combating climate change has been complicated due to energy corporations greenwashing in the US. The data in this study primarily focuses on self-conducted research through case studies, predicted company greenwashing rate, the current scope of deceitful tactics, current obstacles companies face towards becoming environmentally friendly, current emissions by energy companies, policy to create tangible change, current state of play of climate change, and more. The scope of the study calls into question the ethics of brands that seek to make a profit while sacrificing the health of their consumers. Research methodologies in this study include but are not limited to, mixed-methods like data conduction, case studies, data analysis, interpretation, observations, and archival research. These results suggest that current energy companies are deceiving their consumers and are not being regulated enough by the government, policy wise. Along with this, such companies are spending a significant amount of lobbying, avoiding specific regulation. On this basis, the concept of greenwashing should be taken into account when actively trying to investigate a company’s environmental friendliness. The findings of this study indicate that there needs to be increased transparency within company policy and tangible change enacted by the federal government to hold energy companies accountable to mitigate climate change.