b'Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal JusticePerceptions of GMOs at Valdosta State UniversitySamantha DuerringSponsor: Dr. LoganThe debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food supply is driven by multiple factors, specifically concerns about nutrition, food safety/toxicity, and environmental effects of GMOs. In addition, there may be religious and political concerns related to gene transfers between distant species. Public perception of GMOs has been shown to be correlated to age, ethnicity, level of education, knowledge of how GMOs are created, religious affiliation, political beliefs, and scientific knowledge. While 37 % of the general US population has concerns about the safety of GMO foods, only 12 % of scientists share this concern (PEW Research Center, 2016). The purpose of this research is to investigate the views held on VSUs campus concerning genetically modified organisms in foods and if these perceptions correlate with specific demographic, political, and scientific knowledge factors.Data will be collected from students, faculty, and staff at VSU via Qualtrics. The survey includes questions regarding the respondents demographic information, overall scientific knowledge, perceptions of GMOs, self-assessment of their knowledge of GMOs, and concerns related to nutrition, toxicity, environmental effects and religion. The data will be analyzed to identify specific demographic factors, scientific background, and beliefs that are associated with perceptions of GMOs in foods. Beliefs about the Behavior of Childrenfrom Single-Parent FamiliesNyBriah S. GudesSponsor: Dr. PriceThis research paper examines peoples beliefs about the behavior of children from single versus two-parent families. I became interested in this topic because of personal views I experienced when working in multiple settings with children of various backgrounds, and because I had a single mother for some of my childhood. First, I reviewed the research on this topic to see what is known about whether childrens behavior in school may be affected because they grew up in a single-parent household. Next, I conducted survey research using Qualtrics. I surveyed both men and women age 18 and over using convenience sampling for a total of 27 respondents. My dependent variable was:State your level of belief with the following statement: Children who grow up in two-parent families are better behaved than children who grow up in single parent families with response choices ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. I found that 23.1% of respondents strongly agreed that children who group up in two parent families are better behaved and 38% somewhat agreed. My predictor variables were marital status and age. I found that younger individuals were less likely to believe that those children who grew up in two parent households are better behaved. It is important to understand what individuals believe about the behavior of children from different family types. If teachers or others in the community expect children from single parent families to be less well-behaved than children from two-parent families, they may be biased in their judgement of childrens behavior and school performance.57'