Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Conformity, Attitude Toward Authority, And Social Class, Alison Carol Welter

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between attitudes toward authority, identification with authority and conformity in relation to authority in American undergraduate college students. The study consisted of two parts. The first part examined correlates of attitudes toward authority according to social class. Undergraduate college students attending Portland State University comprised the samples in which two groups, a middle-class group and a working-class group of equal sizes (n=63), were formed. A relatively new, standardized measure of attitudes toward institutional authority, the GAIAS (Rigby, 1982), was used to measure orientation toward authority by social class. No significant differences in attitudes toward authority …

Comparison Of Two Behavioral Models In Obesity Treatment, Nina Lucille Dominy

Dissertations and Theses

This study compared the results of two methods of behavioral treatment in combination with a very-low-calorie-diet in the treatment of obesity. Subjects were 28 male and 106 female patients admitted to the medically supervised fasting program at Risk Factor Clinic in Portland, Oregon. Subjects were matched by gender, percent over ideal body weight, and age. Subject group I received a smorgasbord of behavioral techniques from various group leaders in a 60-minute weekly session. Presentation was didactic and theoretical and subjects were accountable to themselves for utilization of the techniques. Subject group II participated in 90-minute weekly sessions with a primary …

Communication Stressors And Coping Strategies Among Chinese Students In The United States, Qiu Lu Liang

Dissertations and Theses

Following China's open door policy in the late 70's and early 80's, there has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese students and scholars attending academic institutions in the U.S. As sojourners in a foreign culture, Chinese students inevitably experience difficulties in their daily life and academic endeavors. The purpose of the thesis is to examine what are the specific situations that are perceived by Chinese students as stressful, how they cope with the situations, and whether there are correlations between the perceived stressors, coping strategies, and the academic, performance of the Chinese students.

A Comparison Of Circadian Rhythms In Day And Night Shift Workers, Mary Lee Blood

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examined whether and to what extent physiological rhythms of long-term night workers become adapted to their unconventionally scheduled hours of work and sleep and how the degree of adaptation would be reflected in ratings of sleep quality, mood, anxiety, energy and satisfaction.

Politics And Education: The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade, Teresa Squires Osborne

Dissertations and Theses

The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade of 1980, carried out in the aftermath,of a long and destructive revolution, was able, in five months time, to decrease the nation's illiteracy rate from 50 percent to 13 percent. The newly fonned Nicaraguan government, recognizing the political nature of education, viewed its Literacy Crusade as a major step· in the development of a "new", post-revolutionary Nicaragua.

As a means of comparison, two other literacy campaigns are also examined: the Cuban campaign of 1961, and the UNESCO-sponsored Experimental World Literacy Programme, in place from 1965-1973.

The Cuban campaign served as a precursor to the Nicaraguan effort. …

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Two Competing Social Power Measurement Systems, Joseph E. Criqui

Dissertations and Theses

The main purpose of this study is to analyze a measurement instrument developed by Frost & Stahelski (1988) to measure French & Raven's (1959) bases of social power. The measurement instrument of a competing typology of social influence tactics (Kipnis, Schmidt, & Wilkinson, 1980) was also administered to the same managerial population (N=108). Confirmatory factor analyses using LISREL (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1986) were performed on each scale. Possible relationships between the two typologies were explored. Results include confirming a modified Frost & Stahelski scale and no confirmation of the Kipnis et al. scale. Canonical correlation yielded two dimensions where Coercive …

Cross-Cultural Differences In Written Discourse Patterns : A Study Of Acceptability Of Japanese Expository Compositions In American Universities, Hiroko Kitano

Dissertations and Theses

Since Kaplan started the study of contrastive rhetoric, researchers have investigated Japanese and English compositions and have found some differences between them. However, few studies have investigated how these differences are perceived by native English readers when the different rhetorical patterns are transferred to English writing.

Drawing from Hinds' study, this research focuses on the following: how the Japanese style of writing is evaluated by Japanese and American readers, especially in academic situations, how Japanese rhetorical patterns are perceived by American readers, and how a change of organization affects the evaluation by American readers.

Comparative Impact Of Selected Group Input Variables On Self-Assessments Of Group Process Skills In Interdisciplinary Health Care Teams: A Field Study, R. Michael Mitchell

Dissertations and Theses

During the past two decades interdisciplinary health care teams have come to be considered an integral component in the efficient delivery of health care. Interdisciplinary teams dealing with the increasingly complex problems of patients are now common in many health care settings. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the individual and collective impact of several group process inputs, common to interdisciplinary health care teams, on team members' appraisals of their own group process skills.

An Exploratory Study Of Female Networking In A Mormon Fundamentalist Polygynous Society, Janet Bennion Cannon

Dissertations and Theses

The present study is comprised of two parts: 1) an exploratory ethnography of a contemporary polygynous community governed by a strong patriarchal ideology in Pinesdale Montana with emphasis on social relationships, and 2) an analysis of the factors which have allowed women's groups to develop in Mormon fundamentalism. The ethnographic account of the community contextualizes the occurrence of female groups in Pinesdale. A model of the formation of female groups designed by Nancy Leis (1974) in her study of the West African Ijaw is used to provide a better understanding of how female groups are formed, and is applied to …

An Evaluation Of The Academic Success Of Students Who Participated In The English For Non-Native Residents Program At Portland State University, Linda Carol Andrews Dunn

Dissertations and Theses

Many programs exist across the United States to prepare non-native English speaking students for academic work. The effectiveness of these programs has been the subject of various research projects, with mixed results. Some have found that the programs they have examined seem to have led to higher achievement among participants. Others have found that it is difficult to show any effect. However, the amount of time and resources devoted to such programs warrants continuing efforts to evaluate their success.

This study compares the academic records of non-native English speaking students who were enrolled in the English for Non-native Residents Program …

Communication Stress And Coping Strategies Among Japanese University Students In The United States, Atsuko Kurogi

Dissertations and Theses

The significant increase of Japanese students studying in the United States suggests an increase in interactions with Americans. However, it does not mean that Japanese are aware of intercultural communication. They may experience stress in their interactions and their acculturative process because of cultural differences. They also may try to cope with the stress in their own way. Their stress and coping strategies may affect their academic performance, which is the most important aspect in their student life.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is any relationship among communication stressors, coping strategies, perceived academic self-efficacy, self-statement …

The Duration Of Tinnitus In An Aging Population, Mary Engel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the perceived severity of chronic tinnitus in a geriatric population increased, decreased, or remained constant with the passage of time. A questionnaire was designed to ascertain the subjects' perceived severity at time of onset and the perceived severity of their current tinnitus. The subjects were asked to rate their past and present tinnitus severity according to how much it bothered them. They were also asked questions pertaining to noise exposure history, hearing aid use, and tinnitus sound parameters for purposes of comparison with other groups previously studied.

A Comparison Of The Phonological Skills Of Late Talking And Normal Toddlers, Patricia Joan Jennings

Dissertations and Theses

In the present study, the speech of twenty-four normally speaking toddlers and twenty-eight late talking toddlers was analyzed with respect to the syllable structures produced during a speech sample. The groups were matched with regard to age, sex, and socio-economic status, all passed a hearing screening, and all scored at least 85 on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

The Effect Of A Parent Training Program On Language Delayed Children, Lynn Krupa

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research project was to determine whether a child-centered parent training program requiring minimal training would increase the language skills of LD pre-school children who have normal receptive language. Seven experimental subjects and 6 control subjects were randomly selected from a pool of middle-class families who answered a newspaper advertisement. The parents of the experimental group received 3 individual training sessions over a 3-month period. They were instructed to spend 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, in a free play situation with their children using the language stimulation techniques they had learned, …

The Relationship Between A Private Voluntary Organization And The Government Of A Developing Country In The Delivery Of Public Education: A Case Study In Rural Guatemala, Timothy John Peterson

Dissertations and Theses

As government agencies face a complexity of economic and political issues the availability and utilization of resources through private voluntary organizations (PVOs) have become increasingly important. A review of the literature covering the role of PVOs in developing countries indicates the significant contribution these agencies can have in the development process. There are only a handful of situations where small organizations are working directly with a government agency in the provision of a public service. Theoretically, PVOs are adaptable to a variety of settings, are effective conduits for delivering aid to the grassroots level, and are able to initiate long …

Gis Address-Matching And Transportation Analysis, James D. Orrell

Dissertations and Theses

Geographic Information System (GIS) address-matching combined with other GIS processing offers new analytical opportunities in the area of transportation planning and analysis. Address-matching, an automated method for generating geographically-referenced (geocoded) point locations on a map from common tabular databases, can facilitate transportation analysis by providing a planning tool based on individual rather than aggregated spatial distributions more common to transportation issues.

Phrasal Verbs In Academic Lectures, Robert D. Pierce

Dissertations and Theses

Phrasal verbs are a pervasive and distinctly Germanic part of the spoken English language that has been alive for centuries. They have preceded American history, and yet considered to be "the most active and creative pattern and word formation in the American language" (Meyer, 1975). Distinctly colloquial, idiomatic and varying in shades of literalness and figurativity, phrasal verbs are largely dominant in casual usage, such as conversation, while the Latinate verbs of English are dominant in formal usage, such as in making reports (McArthur 1989). While foreign educators and their students, such as from Chinese countries, are found to emphasize …

Prediction Of Posttreatment Level Of Functioning From Performance In A Leveled Token Economy For Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents, Peter Arden Scott Grover

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between performance in a leveled token economy for emotionally disturbed adolescents and posttreatment level of functioning six months after discharge from the target program. The target program for the study is an acute care psychiatric hospital which specialized in the treatment of adolescents with both emotional and substance abuse problems. Previous literature on the outcome of token economy treatment programs however for they adolescents have generally been favorable have typically not examined level of functioning as an outcome criteria.

Students' Orientations Toward Dreams And The Development Of Scales For Their Measurement, John Philip Governale

Dissertations and Theses

The present study explores the knowledge, attitudes, and opinions about dreams held by 394 high school, community college, and university students, and examines the interrelations among these students' responses to questions concerning such knowledge, attitudes, and opinions. A modified and extended form of George Domino's Questionnaire About Dreams (QAD) was used for obtaining a descriptive account of students' orientations toward dreams. Scales were developed for summarizing respondents' orientations toward dreams, and the reliability and validity of these scales was investigated. The reliability of scales for assessing respondents' attitudes, psychodynamic orientation, and to a lesser degree paranormal orientation was demonstrated. A …

The Relationship Between School Integration And Student Attitude Toward Residential Racial Integration, David Allen Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined factors related to the teaching effectiveness of adjunct faculty in higher education. Specifically, it explored the relationship between personality, as defined by the Five-Factor Model, occupation, and student ratings of teaching effectiveness. Results indicate that personality is correlated to an instructor's classroom behavior and education goals, which in turn are related to teaching effectiveness. In addition, instructors with occupations in social services and education had significantly higher mean teaching effectiveness scores than those from other occupations. Finally, there was an inverse relationship between age and teaching effectiveness in this study, and a positive relationship between teaching experience …

A Study In The Language Acquisition Styles Of Language Delayed Toddlers, Shelly Saunders

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine if language delayed toddlers, 18 to 30 months of age, were at one end of the referential/expressive continuum. It was this researcher's hypothesis that due to the restricted vocabulary of children who use an expressive language style, that the delayed toddlers would tend to be more expressive speakers.

Employment Decline In The Douglas-Fir Region's Lumber And Plywood Industries: An Analysis Of Structural And Cyclical Factors, Majid Rasoolzadeh

Dissertations and Theses

Over the years a significant decline in employment had occurred in the Douglas-fir region’s lumber and wood products industry. High levels of unemployment can lead to undesirable economic and social effects. An understanding of the nature of unemployment can facilitate future planning as well as mitigating current problems. This study has attempted to examine the underlying causes of employment decline in the region’s softwood lumber and plywood industries, specifically over the period 1979-86. This time span is of particular importance since there was a rapid decline in employment levels after 1979. There has been much controversy over the causes of …

Goal-Directed Imagining : The Effect Of Suggestions Of Warmth And Coolness On Blood Flow To The Hand, John Mark Dilworth

Dissertations and Theses

Recent research was reviewed which claimed to demonstrate that hypnotic suggestions could be used to control blood flow. Numerous methodological and conceptual problems in these studies were identified and a rigid experimental design with tighter controls was employed to investigate the claimed effects on blood flow. Subjects listened to either a standardized hypnotic induction or a passage of relaxing music. Both groups then listened to the Creative Imagination Scale (Wilson & Barber, 1978) (CIS) which ended with an added item containing suggestions of coolness. Localized skin temperature of the right hand was monitored throughout as an indication of blood flow. …

Immunology And Archaeology : Blood Residue Analysis Of Three Sites, Shirley Jo Barr Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Cross-over electrophoresis, an immunological method for analyzing blood residues on archaeological artifacts, is tested. Artifacts from three sites were utilized in the testing of this methodology. The sites are the Dietz site in south-central Oregon (282 artifacts), Konemehu in northern California (48 artifacts tested for Winthrop Associates), and Chimney Shelter in southwestern Oregon (3 artifacts from the Umpqua National Forest).

The Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale As A Predictor Of Leadership Behavior In Work Settings, Jenell Arlene Streeter

Dissertations and Theses

This study evaluates the construct validity of the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Scale by testing the predictions made by the motivational hierarchy hypothesis. The respondents were one hundred fifty-nine supervisors and managers. The LPC determined leadership style as either relationship-oriented or task-oriented. Situational control was measured by the Leader-Member Relations scale, Task Structure scale, and Position Power scale. Consideration behavior, measured by the adapted LBDQ, reflected a need for interpersonal success. Initiation of structure behaviors, measured by the adapted LBDQ, reflected a need for task success. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) High LPC leaders in high control situations engage in …

Spatial Manipulation As A Covariant Of Mental Practice, Vincent James Wolff

Dissertations and Theses

This experiment examined the relationship between a subject's ability to manipulate spatial relationships and utilize mental practice in the mirror drawing ability of 45 naive volunteer college students, using a six-pointed star track. The spatial manipulation abilities of all subjects were assessed with the Minnesota Paper Form Board Test, after which the subjects were divided into three treatment groups (no practice, mental practice, and physical practice) of 15 subjects using a blocked random design based upon their MPFBT scores. All three groups were trained in the mirror drawing task and given three physical practice pre-trials for familiarization. The physical practice …

John Rawls, The Conception Of A Liberal Self, And The Communitarian Critique, Johnathan Edward Mansfield

Dissertations and Theses

John Rawls' A Theory of Justice stands as the single most important work in the Anglo-American liberal tradition after World War II. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls revives the social contract doctrine in order to determine principles of justice that would be chosen by persons who are free and equal moral individuals. Since Rawls believes that no single conception of the good can establish justice in a pluralistic society, he posits a set of principles of right which are prior to any particular good. Thus his theory, which he calls "justice as fairness," is deontological. Since its publication in …

Terrain Disturbances By Winter Roads In The Lower And Central Mackenzie River Valley, N.W.T., Canada, Christoph Gnieser

Dissertations and Theses

Winter roads, built from compacted snow and I or ice, are common throughout the circumpolar North. They are considered effective and economical means of providing seasonal access into permafrost terrain while minimizing the potential for environmental damage.

The purpose of this study is an appraisal of long-term environmental impacts of winter roads by comparative assessment of terrain morphology, microclimate, permafrost, soils, and vegetation, on winter road right-of-ways and in adjacent undisturbed control areas.

Social Support For The Frail Elderly At Two Kinds Of Retirement Communities, Qiaoming Liu

Dissertations and Theses

As few studies focus explicitly on social support for residents by residents in retirement communities which have staff, this thesis is designed to explore the nature of informal social support among residents at planned, non-subsidized retirement care facilities: the types, the amount, the impact, the limitation and the appropriateness of such support. Our focus is to explore whether different organization of a retirement community affects social support among residents, so we compare two retirement care facilities. One provides single-level care for its residents and the other provides multiple-level care. We chose our two sites from retirement care facilities in the …

The Creation Of A Core Vacabulary For Initial Lexicon Selection For Nonspeaking Preschool Children, Lillian May More

Dissertations and Theses

The selection of the initial lexicon is one of the most important decisions made in the implementation of augmentative communication systems with preliterate, nonspeaking preschool children. If a communication aid is to be adopted by a child, the words available on the device must be interesting to the child and encourage communication. The vocabulary must allow for cognitive growth and foster language development. Ideally, a lexicon would be customized for each nonspeaking child's particular interests, vocabulary needs and developmental level. The reality is that vocabulary selection is a difficult and time consuming process. Parents and clinicians do not always have …