Applied Human Sciences Research

---

Research in the Department of Applied Human Sciences:

The Department of Applied Human Sciences is composed of three diverse units: Hospitality Management and Dietetics, Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising, and Family and Consumer Sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of the department and unique combination of fields and concentrations allows for a diverse body of research and creative activity. The faculty have varied interests and ongoing projects:

 Hospitality Management and Dietetics

• Student factors for successfully obtaining a dietetics internship
• Best practices in educating dietetics students
• Early childhood predictors of childhood obesity
• Technology in hospital food service
• The association of nutrition and food systems with healthy eating
• Perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge of cancer prevention activities and tasks
• Socio-cultural attitudes and behaviors of diabetes patients
• Consumers' use of technology-driven consumption environment (e.g., social media, e-commerce, m-commerce)
• Consumers' responses to food safety issues (e.g., perceived risk, willingness to pay)
• Brand management and brand experience
• Socially responsible consumer behavior
• Cross-cultural consumer behavior

 Interior Design and Fashion Merchandising

• The social and economic benefits of preservation of historic buildings
  • Recognition and promotion of significant historic buildings and the understanding of buildings history, present condition, and future reuse viability
• 1920’s women’s clothing styles, including attitudes towards and public perceptions of popular styles (e.g., flappers)
• Individuals’ influence on the creation of new societies in the context of political, education, and artistic endeavors

Family and Consumer Sciences

• Child care quality in preschool classrooms and school readiness
  • A naturalistic and observational examination of preschool classroom quality, teacher-child interaction and relationships, and child outcomes in child care centers in south central Kentucky
• Development and evaluation of training materials about concussions in women’s sporting events, specifically Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby
• Perceptions and attitudes of concussions in women’s domestic and international sporting events and in children’s sporting events
• Parents with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
  • Parents experiences of parenting with a chronic illness
  • The roles of children as caregivers
  • Community resources for parents with MS
  • Romantic and co-parental relationships
• Development and evaluation of romantic relationship education tools
• The roles and development of relationship commitment in unmarried, dating, and newlywed couples
• Development and implementation of teacher leader training materials for Family and Consumer Science teachers in Kentucky
• Factors and characteristics of teacher recruitment and support for middle and high school teachers in Kentucky

Click here to learn more about the Department of Applied Human Sciences.