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The Gothic Tradition In Southern Local Color Fiction, Lucia Ann Stretcher Sigmar

Doctoral Dissertations

The American local color movement, roughly spanning the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century, attempted to preserve traditional regional lifestyles which were in danger of disappearing entirely in a rapidly expanding, increasingly hegemonic society. Historically, local color fiction has been dismissed as too narrowly focused, too nostalgically charged, too stylistically detailed, too lacking in "literary" merit, too quaint, too insignificant to warrant serious, critical investigation. Critics have typically regarded the movement as a subdivision of regionalism, and have privileged the fiction's characteristic adherence to realistic detail (dialect, folklore, character types, and regional setting) above all …

The Relationship Among Parenting Styles, Home Environments, And Children's Curiosity, Amy Baldwin Crockett

Doctoral Dissertations

In this research, the relationships of parenting styles, attitudes, and child-rearing environments with children's curiosity, the relationships of parenting styles and attitudes with child-rearing environments, and the indirect relationships of parenting styles and attitudes with children's curiosity through child-rearing environments were explored. Seventy-four parent-child dyads were recruited from area day care centers. Oldest children between 3 and 6 years old were studied. Parents were administered a demographic information questionnaire, the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory--Revised (HOME), and the Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR). Children were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised (PPVT-R), the Complexity Task, the Preference for …

Computer Applications And Student Achievement In A Model Technology School, Teresa Ann Garland

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships between time spent in minutes on different computer applications and student achievement in reading and language arts. Further, this study considered that relationships differed for male and female students. In addition, differences in computer usage between students of different grade levels and of different genders were reported. Data were collected from two hundred forty-eight students in grades one, two, and three at an elementary school in East Tennessee. Scores from the 1993 spring administration of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program …

A Bedtime Storybook Reading Intervention With Deaf Children, Catherine Wilson Gillespie

Doctoral Dissertations

Although it has been found that young deaf children's patterns of emergent literacy can parallel those of hearing children, deaf children's emergent literacy development and conventional reading abilities are often delayed when compared to hearing children. Storybook reading by adults is an empirically supported method for fostering hearing children's literacy development. In this study, storybook reading was investigated as an intervention technique with deaf children. Subjects were 9 experimental and 9 control children aged 4 to 11 who lived in randomly selected residential cottages at a state-sponsored school for the deaf. Experimental subjects and their peers participated in 30-minute bedtime …

Leadership Characteristics And Work Ethic Of Tennessee Argicultural Extension Service Home Economists, Connie Hollingsworth

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the differences and relationships between leadership orientation and work ethic characteristics of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service (TAES) home economists. Secondarily, it investigated the impact of job classification and geographical dispersion (district) on leadership and work ethic, separately and in combination. Social action theory and adaptation theory provided the theoretical framework for this research. A survey design was utilized to gather data from the entire population (N=183) of TAES home economists; 166 responses yielded an overall response rate of 91% on a three-part questionnaire transmitted through electronic mail (e-mail). Part …

Relational Equity And Household Division Of Labor As Predictors Of Marital, Parental, And Work Satisfaction For Dual-Earner Men And Women, Linda Gaile Blanding

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive value of a model comprised of relational equity, weekly hours of paid employment, and household division of labor on the dependent variables of marital, parental, and work satisfaction of 104 men and 98 women in dual-earner marriages. Household labor was measured in hours per week as reported by respondents and in their perception of their spouses' participation in nine categories subdivided into masculine and feminine tasks. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that the first variable of relational equity was the most influential predictor of marital satisfaction for both men and …

Personal Stories And Narrative Abilities Of Mainstream Six-Year-Old Children, Frieda Kalb Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was undertaken in an effort to learn what the favorite personal stories and narrative abilities are among a small group of mainstream, six-year-old children. Previous research has not singled out this group in order to explore the range of story patterns and narrative abilities they possess. The study also addresses a lack of naturally gathered data on the topics, themes, and affective stances of the stories children like to tell about themselves. Twelve participants met with me in their homes for to data gathering, open-ended interviews. Transcripts of the stories were qualitatively analyzed and compared to an oral …

"Blessings Left Behind" : Self And Social Obligation In The Novels Of Elizabeth Gaskell, Eileen D. Abel

Doctoral Dissertations

Far from supporting the domestic ideology of the Nineteenth Century as many writers contend, Elizabeth Gaskell's five major novels–Mary Barton, Ruth, North and South, Sylvia's Lovers and Wives and Daughters--reflect her overriding idea that the individual could effect social change only through the achievement of moral integrity. Gaskell believes that the primary responsibility of an adult participant of community life is moral awareness, and in these five novels Gaskell creates a sort of moral mythology, or stories by which women could guide their lives. Gaskell's heroines influence their specific communities by learning the supposed "feminine" virtues of love, mercy and …

"What A Bloody Family" : Power, Gender, And Sexuality In Contemporary British Drama, William C. Boles

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the conclusion of World War II, the traditional Victorian idealization of the British family as an extended, heterosexual, patriarchal institution has been challenged through governmental policies, post-war economic affluence, and social changes. Through the plays of Harold Pinter, Peter Nichols, Caryl Churchill, Stephen Poliakoff and Sarah Daniels, among others, the contemporary British theatre has reflected these challenges to the image of the British family. Building upon socio-historical studies of the post-war British family as well as traditional dramatizations of the family (by playwrights such as Noel Coward), this dissertation discusses the changing presentation of the British family between 1956 …

Differences In Attitudes Toward Computers Between And Among Teachers And Parents Of Elementary School Students, Robert Stephen Kite

Doctoral Dissertations

This descriptive study of 229 parents and teachers of elementary school students at Oneida Elementary School was designed to assess their attitudes toward computers as revealed on the Adult Attitudes Toward Computers Scale (ATC) developed by Lewis and Delcourt (1987) at the University of Connecticut. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationship of these attitudes to age, gender and experience with computers and to further determine whether there is a relationship between these attitudes and the implementation of computers in the elementary school. It was hypothesized that attitudes may vary by age, gender, and the amount of …

The Relationship Between Emotional Creativity And Interpersonal Style, Kokkwang Lim

Doctoral Dissertations

This study reviewed the research literature on four aspects of creativity: processes, products, environmental influence, and personality traits. Creativity research has indicated that creativity is domain specific and that creative persons generally have a paradoxical interpersonal style. This study assumed that the reports of creative persons' paradoxical interpersonal style may have in part resulted from the fact that most studies on creativity have not appropriately specified their domains. This study selected the specific domain of emotional creativity, which is defined as the ability to experience novel emotions and to express them in ways that enhance one's personal growth and one's …

An Evaluation Of Project B.A.S.I.C., Jama M. Mcdonald

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Project B.A.S.I.C., a school-based prevention/mental health promotion program which serves K-3rd grade students. The Child Development Specialist (CDS) conducts the program in the assigned school and is responsible for mental health education, early intervention, teacher consultation, and school climate enhancement. The program has been in the state of Tennessee since 1985, serves 16 schools, and has not been subjected to a formal evaluation.

The program evaluation used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The qualitative data collection were conducted through semi-structured interviews. The data sources for the qualitative data collection were …

Factors Predictive Of Injury Severity In Cases Of Physical Child Abuse Among Air Force Families : A Cross-Validation Study, Jeffrey B. Paddock

Doctoral Dissertations

While most studies of risk assessment in the child maltreatment literature focus on characteristics of children and families who have been reported to authorities, or on the risk of recurrence of maltreatment, the present study focused on injury severity as the outcome. The purpose of the study was to develop and test, via a cross-validation sample, a model for predicting severity of injury in cases of physical child abuse.

Conducted on a subset of observations from child abuse reports in the U.S. Air Force Family Advocacy Program's central registry, data included selected variables from 6246 substantiated cases of physical child …

Instructional Strategies For Teaching About Culture In Grades Six Through Eight, Lesia C. Lennex

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional strategies and cultural content within middle school social studies. classrooms. A survey of twenty-two multipart questions was mailed to ninety-four teachers and five intern teachers in grades six, seven, and eight of one urban system in East Tennessee. Respondents were asked to describe their educational preparation, personal backgrounds, and present school environment as well as specific instructional strategies used for teaching about other cultures.

The survey consisted of seven multipart questions with Likert-type responses, eleven multipart questions in which participants were asked to provide information regarding content instruction and educational …

Comparison Of The Effect Of Instructional Versus Industry-Specific Computer Simulation On Students Learning In A Front Office Management Course, Mohamed Abdul-Ghani

Doctoral Dissertations

A survey was administered to assess the current and future state of academic computer use in teaching front office management courses, and to evaluate the degree of importance educators of these courses placed in various features of educational software. In addition, an instructional or industry-specific computer simulation program was integrated in a front office management course for undergraduate students. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if there were any differences in students' knowledge of the subject matter, attitude toward computers, and ability to transfer the learned skills to another industry-specific software, which could be attributed to the usage …

Construct Validation Of Three Early Memory Probes : Assessing Dependency, Transitional Relatedness, And Ego-Relatedness With The Early Memories Test, James Christopher Fowler

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study the construct validity and clinical utility of three early memory probes are investigated. Early memory probes assessing themes of dependency, transitional relatedness, and ego-relatedness were empirically validated by comparing memory scores to construct specific content scales from the Rorschach Test, as well as theoretically and empirically derived behavioral ratings. Sixty-five psychiatric patients and their therapists participated in the study. Results demonstrated moderate to strong correlations among the early memory scores and the Rorschach scale scores, thus demonstrating good concurrent validity. Two of the three early memory probes (dependency and transitional relatedness) were significantly correlated with therapist ratings …

A Sudden Feast : The Domestic Life And Poetry Of Emily Dickinson's Prose, Anna Dunlap Higgins

Doctoral Dissertations

This New HIstoricist-based study examines the relationship among Emily Dickinson's prose, her poetic vision, and the domestic life. Chapter one provides an overview of three strands of Dickinson scholarship: the history of commentary on the poetic nature of the letters, the criticism that speaks of Emily Dickinson's life at home, and the scholarship that focuses on Dickinson and domesticity. Ultimately, my work brings these three approaches together, an investigation of the domestic woman poet's life and experience of poetic insight as they are revealed in the poetic passages of her letters. Chapter two examines the link between nineteenth-century ideals about …

Rheumatoid Arthritis And Object Relations, Erlete Malveira Ascencao

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the object relations of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients in addition to examining the association, if any, of Alexithymia and RA for these patients. The sample was comprised of 50 subjects (20 RA, 10 UC, and 20 NP or Non-psychosomatic controls). Two-and three-group comparisons were made, using Analysis of Variance, Discriminate Analysis, and non-parametric Tests (Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact Probability Test). The results show that hypothesis 1 was only partially confirmed since only 3 Westen Object Relations Scales – the Capacity for Emotional Investment and Moral Standards (El), Complexity of Representations of People …

A Study Of The Perceptions Of Belmont University Faculty About The Evaluation Of Their Teaching, Sheridan Clinton Barker

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was undertaken In order to investigate faculty attitudes toward student, administrative, peer and self-evaluation of their instruction by examining the attitudes of higher education faculty at one institution in which the four types of instructional evaluation were in use. The study sought to reveal their perceptions on each type and to compare their perceptions of how each type of evaluation was used versus how each evaluation type should be used in the ideal. The investigation involved a survey of 131 full-time instructors at Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, which had an evaluation system in place that encompassed the four …

Gender Differences On The Rorschach Test, Alfred Wayne Coursol

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines gender differences in Rorschach test responses. It begins with a short history of the masculine bias believed to be inherent in western civilization and includes a history of gender research in western psychology. In particular, it examines gender differences in real, whole human content responses [H], color responses [C], human movement responses [HM], and two composite responses: real, whole- figure, humans engaged in socially appropriate, nonmalevolent, movement, or, [H,HM,+,B or N]; and, the ratio of the number of these responses to the total number of human movement responses involving real, whole-figure human content, or, [H,HM,-I-,B or N]/[H,HM]. …

Infant Feeding Practices And Beliefs Of Anglo American And Asian Indian American Mothers In Knoxville, Tennessee : A Cultural Profile, Srimathi Kannan

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed to address some of the issues related to infant feeding practices and beliefs of Asian Indian Americans residing in Knoxville, Tennessee and to compare these findings to a cohort group of Anglo American mothers. This involved three major areas: infant feeding practices, mothers sources of information and beliefs about infant feeding practices, and the dietary adequacy and growth patterns of the infants.

Results of this study indicated that all Anglo American (n=25) compared to fewer Asian Indian American mothers (n=19) initiated breast-feeding immediately following birth of the baby. Anglo American mothers breast-fed their infants for a …

Visual Communication And Newspaper Reader Satisfaction, John Mark King

Doctoral Dissertations

This research applied findings from experimental research to a natural setting to examine visual communication in newspapers and reader satisfaction. The research design included a content analysis of one daily newspaper with a visual design and one with a traditional design. A survey was conducted of 752 readers in three locations, including the publication towns and an equidistant town with subscribers of both newspapers.

Ten sets of hypotheses were formulated. Independent variables included readership of the visual or traditional newspaper, newspaper subscription and community of residence, daily television minutes, cable TV, weekly magazine minutes, readership of large visual newspapers, age, …

Chronic Pain, Alexithymia, And Object Relations, Elizabeth W. Krause

Doctoral Dissertations

In the treatment of chronic neck and back pain patients, the influence of early life experiences, or object relations, and the inability to verbalize feelings. or alexithymia, have not been explored. This study investigated the object relations and presence of alexithymia in chronic pain patients in comparison to a sample of non-pain workers. In addition, a comparison was made of the level of object relations and presence of alexithymia in chronic pain patients who returned to work versus chronic pain patients who did not return to work at six months following a prototypical work-hardening program.

One hundred patients diagnosed with …

An Examination Of The Relationship Among The Commitment And Control Dimensions Of Hardiness, The Appraised Impact And Frequency Of Negative Life Events, And Optimistic Explanatory Style, Bruce Gordon Lynch

Doctoral Dissertations

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship among the commitment and control dimensions of hardiness, negative life events, and explanatory style in undergraduate college students. Attempts were made to clarify the relationship between two widely, but predominantly separately, researched theories of cognitive coping styles--hardiness (Kobasa, 1979) and reformulated learned helplessness (Abramson, et al., 1978). Hardiness influences how people appraise events, and is related to psychological health. According to the learned helplessness reformulation. one's style of explanation can reflect optimism or pessimism. and influences psychological health when people experience adversity. But there have been inconsistent findings …

Future Hiring Practices And Required Competencies For Professional Positions Within The Apparel Industry, Phyllis Bell Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the future hiring practices and required competencies for professional positions (those requiring a bachelor's degree) within the U. S. garment industry. Telephone interviews were administered to persons responsible for recruiting and/or hiring college graduates for 91 firms, which were randomly selected from the membership of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association (69% response rate). The sample companies represented all sales volumes, sizes, apparel categories, and geographic regions.

Manufacturers opinions of the level of industry preparation provided by college programs, of faculty awareness of industry's needs, and of the value of faculty as resource …

Ncaa Division I Athletes' Attitudes Toward Seeking Sport Psychology Consultation, Scott Brian Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

Every year an increasing number of sport psychology practitioners work with athletes, coaches, and teams in the field (Murphy & Ferrante, 1989). Despite the growth in the number of active consultants, many athletes and coaches remain reluctant to utilize sport psychology services (Ravizza, 1988). Little is known. about how athletes themselves feel about sport psychology consultants (SPCs), particularly those from cultural backgrounds different than that of the consultants (Anshel, 1990). Recently, Wrisberg and Martin (1994) found that African-American athletes may have less favorable perceptions of SPCs than do Caucasian athletes. Thus, the major purpose of this study was to develop …

Hangin' In Tough : The Life Of Superintendent Mildred E. Doyle, 1904-1989, Kellie W. Mcgarrh

Doctoral Dissertations

Mildred Eloise Doyle (1904-1989) is best remembered by residents of Knox County, Tennessee as superintendent of the public school system for 30 years--from 1946-1976. With her father's support and political color coupled with her own visionary determination, she was elected superintendent, attaining the unthinkable in both a time period and a field where men were the leaders and traditional roles for women reigned supreme. During her tenure, the salty "Miss Doyle" transformed an antiquated postwar school system into one with updated physical facilities, innovative curricula and better educated teachers, offering an overall environment much more conducive to learning. In the …

Staging Communities In Early Twentieth-Century American Labor Drama, Lee Papa

Doctoral Dissertations

Labor drama of the early twentieth century has received scant critical attention beyond mention in American theatre histories and studies of the two canonical texts of the movement, Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape and Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty. Yet the labor drama movement provides an important bridge between the Little Theatre Movement of the first two decades of the twentieth century and American drama of the 1940s and 1950s.

Using labor historiography as a basis, this study demonstrates how labor drama reveals a deep desire for the worker to engage with and form communities with other workers. The plays …

Professional Development Needs Of Science Teachers In The Middle Grades In Chattanooga And Hamilton County Tennessee, Albert E. Piatt

Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Domestic Shopkeepers In Mid-Victorian Lancashire : Middlemen And Women Of The Working-Class Community, James L. Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.