Digital Commons Network^™

Variance In Percent Body Fat Between And Within Families As Measured By Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry, Laurel Anne Kelsey

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To determine the variance in percent body fat between and within families as measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Methods: Percent body fat (%BF) assessed in 95 females, 120 males (included 54 sets of biological siblings) using DXA. Physical activity questionnaire used to assess current physical activity habits in each participant. Results: Variance in %BF between and within families is similar. Amount of television viewing and levels of physical activity can affect %BF. Discussion: A model such as the one derived in this study can be a useful tool in intervention programs implemented to decrease obesity.

Development Of A Methodology For Non-Intrusive Mental Workload Measurement In On-Road And Simulated Driving, Calvin Ka Lun Or

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the research was to develop the non-intrusive physiological measure of using human facial skin temperature change as an indicator of mental workload. The forehead and nose temperature were obtained via thermography from the participants who drove in a simulator driving environment and/or in instrumented car experiments. The NASA TLX and the Modified Cooper-Harper metrics were adopted to assess the subjective workload for the validation of the physiological measure. Three driving experiments were conducted in order to acquire the physiological response and the workload score for the performed tasks. Forehead temperature was very stable throughout the experiments. Nose …

The Effectiveness Of The North Dakota Family To Family Network: A Descriptive Study, Susan Offutt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a parent support system for families of children who have been diagnosed with special needs in an upper Midwesxem iural state. The goal of the study was to determine the efficacy of the present process and gamer information to improve the system.

Qualitative research methods were used. One-on-one interviews were conducted with five family dyads; each dyad consisted of a family whose child was recently diagnosed with a special need and their matched “veteran” family who was trained to provide emotional and informational support. Analysis of the data was designed based …

Instructing Teachers Of Children With Disabilities Within The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Katie E. Sampson

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates benefits of in-service training on LDS primary teachers' ability to state an objective, obtain and keep attention, use wait time, incorporate active participation, teach to the multiple intelligences, and employ positive behavior management techniques. Two groups of 30 viewed either a video-tape or read a handout. Pre and post surveys were used to determine mean gain.
Using an ANCOVA, comparisons were made of overall mean gain for each group. Results showed participants made a gain of approximately 1/2 point per question on a 4-point scale on the video and the handout (video gain = .6032 p<.01; handout gain = .6264 p<.01). The results of this study support the hypothesis that teachers receiving one in-service will increase their perception of their ability to teach students with special needs.

Prevalence Of Teleological And Lamarckian Misconceptions Of Natural Selection Among College Students, Bryce T. Battisti

Theses and Dissertations

Science teachers and researchers note that students must correctly understand the role of natural selection in evolution to make sense of biology. The level of understanding of natural selection can be assessed using the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) which is a 20-item multiple-choice test that incorporates student misconceptions as distractors. In the present study, Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to analyze the occurance of misconceptions on the CINS among 1192 students in an introductory non-majors biology course. The four most difficult topics in the CINS are: (a) how change occurs in a population; (b) origin of variation; …

Intercultural Knowledge And Skills In Social Service Work With Refugees: Perspetives From Providers And Recipients Of Service, Katherine Amy Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study examined how social service providers and refugee recipients of public social services in a small city in an upper mid-western state described the intercultural knowledge and skills they felt were necessary for effective provision of services to refugees. The study sought to add to a body of knowledge related to the concept of “cultural competence,” a concept that has received increasing attention in human service fields over the past twenty years. Lum (1999) describes cultural competence as an outcome goal “related to the master of cultural awareness, knowledge acquisition, skill development, and inductive learning” (p. 12). …

Research-Supported Professional Development Perceptions Of K-12 Educators Of Self-Determined Professional Development Needs, Robert T. Grosz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of involvement of K-12 educators in a Minnesota district in research-supported professional development (RSPD), to determine the perceived needs for future professional development of the same K-12 educators, and to determine whether recent participation in RSPD activities, areas, and approaches impacted the K-12 educators perceived professional development needs and/or wants.

Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine what differences existed in the recent involvement in RSPD activities, areas, and approaches compared by the variables; gender, years of experience as a classroom teacher, current teaching level, and current education …

Transforming The Fairytale: A Diachronic Study Of Utopias Of Popular Romance, Deborah A. Jossart

Theses and Dissertations

Popular romance novels have been examined by a number of critics over the past several decades, but each of these studies has analyzed texts within a fixed, synchronic context. Such analyses, while useful, fail to provide the same depth and breadth of a study of a popular culture genre that combines both synchronic and diachronic approaches. This study evaluates the popular romance novels produced during three distinct historical moments: the early mass-market romance novel, popular during the 1960s and 70s; the contemporary erotic romance novel, produced from the 1980s until currently; and the “chick-lit” sub-genre of popular romance, currently rising …

Cons, Ex-Cons And Odinism Across Cultural And National Borders: Why Attempt To Procure Knowledge And Dare We Not?, Lene T. Vallestad

Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of right-wing extremism is becoming more prominent in the social landscape of Western European countries, including Norway, and in the United States. Amongst these movements one will find groups that base and justify their racist behavior in religious beliefs. Odinism, a pre-Christian, Norse neopagan faith, has merged racist beliefs and violent behavior with religious creed and ideology, and is a prime example of these right-wing religions.

During the 1990s Odinism emerged as one of the most dynamic trends within the extreme right-wing milieu in the U.S. and Western Europe. The popularity of Odinism today is connected to the …

Perceptions Of Domestic Violence In Lesbian Relationships: Stereotypes And Gender Role Expectations, Betsi M. Little

Theses and Dissertations

In light of evidence suggesting that violence between lesbian couples is often times dismissed as “mutually combative,” expectations that support this perception were examined in the present study. T"> this end, undergraduate participants (N = 287) read a newspaper brief describing an incident of domestic violence taking place within the context of a lesbian partnership. As gender-based stereotypes guide not only expectations for the behavior of lesbians, but their appearance as well, participants were shown pictures of both the alleged victim and accused that varied in terms of how feminine or masculine they appeared.

Participants were randomly assigned to one …

With A Map And A Compass: Planning For The Online Journey, Sherry L. Lindquist

Theses and Dissertations

With rising enrollments in online courses, institutions must decide how they will respond. Institutions offering online courses through distance programs are moving those courses into the mainstream, increasing the demand for courses and instructors. Faculty must choose how they will be involved. Institutions will be challenged to find ways to encourage faculty to be involved.

This qualitative study examined perceptions of faculty and administrators to discover how well those perceptions matched. Participants were interviewed at two institutions, using a grounded theory approach.

Faculty and administrators’ perceptions differed about their institution’s initial motive for offering online courses. Administrators claimed online courses …

The Influence Of Menarche On Fathers' Perceptions Of Father-Daughter Relationships, Jennifer L. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a time of transformation for a young girl and her relationships with her parents. One way to conceptualize the evolving dynamics between father and adolescent daughter is to use the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems. The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in relationships between fathers and their premenarchal daughters, girls who have not had their first menstrual period, compared to fathers and postmenarchal daughters, girls who have experienced their first menstrual period. The participants completed three questionnaires. The Demographic questionnaire included general demographic questions in order to learn more about the participants. …

Spirituality And Coping: Caregivers Of Spouses Afflicted With Alzheimer's, Khalil A. Sakalla

Theses and Dissertations

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease can be one of the biggest commitments a spouse will make and the most difficult experience to undertake. Undesired surprises of old age such as a spouse’s affliction with Alzheimer’s disease can increase the individual’s psychological distress and hinder his or her ability to cope with stressful situations. Religious and spiritual beliefs, activities and experience are believed to help distressed individuals bring emotional equilibrium into their lives.

In this study, I explored the influence of spiritual well-being, also religious wellbeing and existential well-being, on task-, emotion-, and avoidance-oriented coping among caregivers challenged …

Speech/Language And Social Behavior Performance As Predictors Of Literacy Acquisition In Children With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol Effects, Kristen Ann Runge

Theses and Dissertations

This study was a review of existing case files and focused on the struggles of one particular segment of the special needs student population and the challenges that educators face as they attempt to engage them in meaningful learning experiences. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAS/FAE) are completely preventable; yet, their presence in classrooms remains high and bears profound implications for educators. This study examined the specific relationships between FAS/FAE and literacy acquisition in children. Specific variables of children with FAS/FAE were considered. They included IQ, speech/language development, and social behavior performance.

Hypotheses guiding this study were the following:

1. Evidence …

Bias In Perceptions Of Parenting Roles: Analysis Of Gender And Socioeconomic Status, Krislea E. Wegner

Theses and Dissertations

After industrialization in the United States, men primarily moved from the farm to the workplace, leaving women responsible for the children and maintaining the household alone. This arrangement contributed to the so called "tender years" doctrine, which suggested that mothers were better caretakers of the children and should therefore receive sole custody. The preference for mothers continued until the 1960's, after the women's liberation movement, when a large portion of women moved from the home into the workforce. State statutes were later changed to establish gender-neutrality for the purposes of determining custody decisions and suggested the custody of children should …

Constructions Of Female Identities In Mary Gordon's The Other Side And Maureen Howard's Before My Time, Neli Gogovska

Theses and Dissertations

In Women's Time Kristeva designates three broad currents of feminist struggle: first, the suffragist movement declaring a universalist view of women's experience regardless of class, age, and cultures; second, the phase of difference, that she regards as "returning to an archaic (mythic) memory as well as cyclical or monumental temporality of marginal movements" (355); and third, a trend that she wholeheartedly supports for their concept that "the dichotomy of man and woman as an opposition of two rival entities is a problem of metaphysics" (366).

This thesis discusses Howard and Gordon as proponents of the second phase because they write …

Community College Presidents In The New Millennium: Competencies For Leadership As Identified By Position Announcements And Relationship To Board Type, Shari L. Olson-Nikunen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if position announcements and position descriptions posted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, (2002) align with 1) the competencies established by Desjardins and Huff for the community college president in the new millennium and 2) whether these competencies vary with different board structures, majority board gender composition, or gender of board president.

Seventy-six position announcements where compared to a Community College Leadership Competency model in a mixed model research design, using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Inter-rater reliability was established by having two educators independently code 20 position announcements and then …

The Relationships Among Childhood Psychological Treatment, Adult Psychological Functioning, Dating Abuse, And Schema, Tonia L. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine childhood psychological maltreatment’s unique associations with adult psychological functioning, being the recipient of dating abuse, and maladaptive schemas. The present study controlled for witnessing parental physical and psychological maltreatment in order to examine these associations. It was hypothesized that childhood psychological maltreatment would be related to symptoms of adult depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and obsessive-compulsive problems. In addition, it was hypothesized that childhood psychological maltreatment would be related to being a recipient of psychological and physical abuse in dating relationships. There is an underlying assumption in Young and Gluhoski's (1997) schema- focused …

An Investigation Of The Tools And Strategies Used To Present Multiple Perspectives In The Classroom, Christopher P. Madden

Theses and Dissertations

The research question for this project is what are the tools and strategies teachers are using to present multiple perspectives to their students? The data sources for this research included classroom observations, teacher interviews, student questionnaires, and document analysis. Four different teachers were interviewed and had their classes observed. There were a total of 16 observations containing detailed field notes. Twenty-seven students filled out the questionnaire. Documents used in the classroom as tools were collected and analyzed for this research. Four main strategies for presenting multiple perspectives in the classroom were found: open discussion, current events, alternative texts, and movies …

The Effects Of The Type Of Skill Assessment On The Motivation Of Students In Physical Education, Tyler Gene Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (1) examine the effects of criterion-referenced (i.e., Programmed Practice Sheet or PPS) and norm-referenced (i.e., standardized) skill assessments on the situational motivation of junior high school physical education students (N = 507), (2) determine if student task and ego dispositions could be affected by the type of skill assessment administered, and (3) determine if having choices of skill level affects student situational motivation and perception of autonomy support. Student situational motivation, task and ego disposition, and sense of autonomy were assessed using the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS), Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), and …

Teacher Management Of Homophobia And Homosexuality In High Schools, Sarah Elizabeth Kiyak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine ways in which high school teachers manage issues of homophobia and homosexuality in high schools. Surveys were distributed to teachers in one southern New Jersey high school in order to measure the frequency of tolerance and adherence to policy regarding homosexual issues of students. The survey, constructed of eleven forced response questions using a Likert scale and one open-ended question, was the instrument utilized in this research project. After the completed surveys were returned, the results were tallied and frequency tables were used to analyze the results. The open-ended questions were …

The Perceptions Of School Safety And Discipline And How These Perceptions Affect Teaching Methods And Strategies, James J. Lapsley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions teachers have concerning safety and discipline within their school and how these perceptions affect teaching methods and strategies. The study took place in a large rural area high school with a diverse multi-cultural background of students. This particular school has increasingly been scrutinized for the disruptive behavior of the students and the ability of the administration to handle these problems among the majority of teachers in the school. This study focused on the perceptions the teachers have about their school policies and procedures and the ability the school has in …

A Study Of The Female Formation Of Identity During The High School Years: A Qualitative Analysis, Elisabeth C. Rigney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine the factors that influence and affect identity formation by female adolescents during the high school years. Group discussion sessions were held for a sample size of 6 participants that introduced certain topics that were deemed relevant to adolescent females' identity formation. Through the group discussions, participants demonstrated that these topics, including body image, family pressure, and relationships, were inherent to the ways they form identity during the high school years. Upon completion of the data collection, the discussion sessions were coded for each topic and then divided by those responses deemed …

Casuistical Connections From Dunton To Defoe, John E. Fossum

Theses and Dissertations

This master's thesis is primarily concerned with the philosophical conditions of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England that encouraged the emergence of periodical literature and perpetuated the birth of the novel. While most connections between periodical literature and the novel are made on how the former created the readership that ensured the latter's success, I focus on how the epistemology unique to the advent of empirical science together with the growing prominence of casuistic thought created a space in which periodical literature could emerge and the early novel could flourish. I investigate the underlying assertion of a particular philosophical amalgam …

Parental Ability To Support Their Children's Education Of Mathematics, Jenny M. Honold

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which parents/guardians can adequately support the success of their children's innovative mathematics curriculum. The study raises questions about the skills and knowledge parents have about today's mathematical practices. Are parents informed enough to sufficiently support their children's mathematical achievement? A qualitative review will take place by collecting student perception surveys, parent perception surveys, parent interviews, and a teacher journal recording home-school communication. This study is concerned with how teachers at Webster Elementary School will better be able to foster an environment where the mathematics needs of parents and children …

The Role Of Vocabulary Size In Assessing Second Language Vocabulary, Kevin John Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the role of vocabulary size in assessing learners from various L1 backgrounds and for institutional placement. Participants included native speakers of Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin, who took a test that estimated the size of their productive English vocabulary. First, the vocabulary size of students from each language group was compared and the relationship between vocabulary size and institutional placement level was examined. Then, scores were analyzed to determine how cognates and loan words influenced the participants' performance on the vocabulary test. Further, students' vocabulary size scores were correlated with their placement scores that evaluated reading, writing, …

The Use Of The Socratic Method In A Contemporary High School Classroom In Developing Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking, And Decision Making Skills, Anna Schneider Muessig

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to attempt to use a modified approach to the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom as a means of developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in high school students. The participants in the study were 16 male students and 13 female students from two sections of an eleventh grade Honors English class at a suburban high school in southern New Jersey. These students were selected as a population of convenience during the researcher's Clinical Internship II experience. As a part of regular classroom instruction, the researcher employed a modified form …

Probabilistic Methodology For Record Linkage Determining Robustness Of Weights, Krista Peine Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Record linkage is the process that joins separately recorded pieces of information for a particular individual from one or more sources. To facilitate record linkage, a reliable computer based approach is ideal. In genealogical research computerized record linkage is useful in combing information for an individual across multiple censuses.

In creating a computerized method for linking censuse records it needs to be determined if weights calculated from one geographical area, can be used to link records from another geographical area. Research performed by Marcie Francis calculates field weights using census records from 1910 and 1920 for Ascension Parish Louisiana. These …

Family Differentiation, Family Recreation, And Symptoms Of Eating Disorders, Birgitta Lynne Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between family differentiation, family recreation and symptoms of eating disorders. The Family Intrusiveness Scales, the Perceived Social Support from Family, the Family Leisure Activity Profile and the Eating Attitudes Test were used. Participants were students at two large universities, one in the East and one in the West. Data were analyzed using correlation and ANCOVA. Findings supported the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between family leisure involvement and family differentiation. In addition, a negative relationship between family differentiation and symptoms of eating disorders for individuals whose parents are not …

Religion And Gender In Christian, Jewish, And Muslim Married Couples, Anna Mae Ridley

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the influence of religion on gender roles in marriage. Past research indicates that previous theories of marital power have ignored couples' own conceptualizations and have relied on taken for granted assumptions. Thirty-two religious couples (from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths) were interviewed regarding their gender roles. Grounded-theory qualitative analyses were conducted for couples' perceptions of religious influence on gender roles, the development of their gender practice, and their operationalization of marital power. Results are reported according to couples' discussion of role organization, role design, and outcomes. Valuing gender differences moderated religious impact on couples' role development and …