Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ethnic Identity Changes Among Hong Kong Chinese Americans, Pui-Lam Lo

Dissertations and Theses

During the last ten years, the number of Hong Kong Chinese migrating to the U.S. has increased. These new immigrants, with knowledge and life experiences shaped by the urban metropolis of Hong Kong, have begun to influence different aspects of Chinese communities in U.S. cities. A study of this group of Hong Kong Chinese provides a better understanding of how they have adapted to their new environment and how they have come to recognize themselves as Hong Kong Chinese Americans. In reviewing the available literature, very few studies have dealt with the identity changes of this group of people. Hence, …

Development Of High-Technology Industries In The Portland/Vancouver Metropolitan Area: An Analysis Of Regional And Intraregional Factors Affecting High-Tech Firm Locations, Ulf Eichner

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis aims to investigate local conditions of high-tech industry development in the Portland/Vancouver CMSA. To do so, the research proceeds in four major stages. First, it is analyzed how historical factors contributed to the rise of high-tech industries in the CMSA. The second part consists of mapping the distribution pattern of hightech establishments. The U.S. Bureau of Census' County Business Patterns statistics are used to calculate the number of high-tech establishments and employees by branch (SIC code) and county; two high-tech directories help to identify the exact firm locations. Thirdly, an explanatory set of locational factors is established, based …

Evaluation Of Information Resource Management: Measuring Change In A Federal Bureaucracy, Randolph D. Perrin

Dissertations and Theses

This is a case study of a federal bureaucracy and its Information Resource Management (IRM) organization. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal power marketing agency and part of the Department of Energy, significantly impacts the western United States. BPA is responsible for developing electric power resources, transmission of electric resources. power conservation programs, and fish and wildlife programs. The focus of the study is the perception of the quality of information supplied to management, assuming that better information makes better decisions. The study uses a pre-experimental research design to evaluate the satisfaction executive and middle management with information they …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Skills Measured By Piagetian Tasks At Age 2 And Linguistic Skills Measured By An Expressive Language Test At Age 4 In Normal And Late Talkers, Rebecca Jayne Laplante

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive skills as measured by Piagetian tasks at approximately 2 years of age and expressive and receptive language scores from tests administered to the same children 2 years later. The questions this study sought to answer were: 1. Is there a significant difference in the performance of normal children and late-talking children on Piagetian cognitive assessment at age 2? 2. Is there a significant relationship between the cognitive scores at age 2 and language scores at age 4 in each of the two diagnostic groups? Sixty-four subjects participated in …

The United States-Japan Security Treaty Of 1951: An Essay On The Origins Of Postwar Japanese-American Relation, Christopher S. Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The early September day in 1951 that brought the Pacific War to an official end, with the signing of a treaty of peace, concluded as representatives of Japan and the United States signed the Bilateral Security Treaty. The security treaty symbolized new realities of international relations, just as the peace treaty had buried the old. By cementing into place a strategic alliance between the former Pacific antagonists, the treaty represented the great and lasting achievement of postwar American diplomacy in Asia. Nevertheless, the treaty was both the outcome and the perpetuation of a stereotyped and lopsided relationship, now fixed firmly …

Comparative Analysis Of Resettlement Policies In Third World Countries, Abrahim Jawad Al-Khalisi

Dissertations and Theses

Settlement policy in the Third World has been stimulated by the availability of public land. This availability of public land has prompted many Third World countries to adopt policies or schemes called resettlement, transmigration, or land development. These have been presented as potential means for addressing numerous agendas held by Third World countries. Settlement policies have been used to increase agricultural production and make idle land productive. Spatial imbalances of population distribution have been addressed via settlement policies. For national security, settlement policies have been used to exploit frontier lands. Solutions to serious political problems including lack of agricultural self-sufficiency, …

Determining The Property Value Impact Of Landfills, Okwuchukwu Gerald Uba

Dissertations and Theses

The decline in property value can be due to owner's act or exogenous act from the operation of landfills. Landfill neighbors, especially home owners, perceive landfill operation to pose environmental safety problem such as ground water contamination and methane gas leakage that could affect home value.

Owners of landfills, especially those landfills that accept only dry waste (limited purpose landfill), claim that since their facilities meet the requirements of environmental regulations and the type of waste they accept could not possibly produce methane gas and leachate there is no property value impact of their facilities.

Several studies have shown that …

Cities And Automobile Dependence: An Empirical Examination Of Density And Automobile Dependence Relationship And Their Underlying Factors, Musaad Abdullah Al-Mosaind

Dissertations and Theses

Over the last several decades, low-density development and increasing levels of automobile dependence have become two of the major problems facing many urban areas. While they have significantly improved urbanites' mobility, freedom, and social contacts, and have expanded the ranges of economic activities, they have also brought numerous problems and externalities. Mitigating their negative externalities through appropriate policies necessitates the examination of their relationship and the effect of other urban elements. This research examines the relationship between density and automobile dependence and its underlying factors within cities. It examines the effects of quantifiable factors at three levels of analysis: regional, …

The Voices I Never Hear: Communication Apprehension And Associated Nonverbal Behaviors In The Primary School Child, Linda Dunn

Dissertations and Theses

The confidence to communicate orally with others is the first requisite for verbal interaction. Anxiety which occurs in anticipation of speaking with others or while engaged in speaking hinders interaction, and is referred to as communication apprehension. This study examines levels of communication apprehension among a sample primary school population and the possible relationship between such levels and frequencies of nonverbal behaviors called self-adaptors that may be associated with the anxiety. Greater awareness of communication apprehension in children is justified in light of research that suggests it is negatively related to academic achievement in elementary school students. A four-month field~study …

The Public Persona Of Nelson R. Mandela: A Study Of U.S. Print Media Narratives, Molly Jeane Mcvey

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the contribution made by the U.S. print media to the development of Nelson Mandela's public persona. The period studied is from 1985 to June, 1990. This thesis explores the following questions: 1) How did the public persona of Nelson Mandela evolve in the dominant U.S. print media; 2) How do these stories, in content and form, serve to establish Nelson Mandela as a public hero; 3) What cultural myths structure the news stories of Nelson Mandela that serve as the interpretative framework for public belief and action? Data for analysis were drawn from The New York Times, …

Common Security: A Conceptual Blueprint For An Israeli-Palestinian Political Settlement, Robert Arthur Horenstein

Dissertations and Theses

The deep-rooted Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a major source of destabilization in the Middle East for some three-quarters of a century. Whereas other long-standing conflicts around the world have been brought to a close, this struggle (both in and of itself and within its wider Arab-Israeli dimension) remains a perennial tinderbox. This is particularly true given the unsettling realities of the region in which the conflict exists. Consequently, a certain sense of urgency for finding a permanent political settlement can be discerned both within the region and outside it. still, the search for a solution has yielded progress only on …

A Study Of The Narrative Skills In 6-Year-Olds With Normal, Impaired, And Late Developing Language, Karen Elaine Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Proficiency in various higher level language skills is necessary to integrate and organize units of meaning beyond the sentence level. Examining narratives has become a useful tool for assessing these language abilities. Narrative skills are considered by many researchers to be a strong link between oral language and literacy, and related to academic performance (Westby, 1991; Roth & Spekman, 1991). The present study was part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study of early language delay. The purpose of this study was to assess higher level language abilities by examining the stories of 6-year-olds with normal, impaired, and …

Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Upward Compliance-Gaining Strategies: U.S.A. And Japan, Miyoko Fuse

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated cultural differences, U.S.A. and Japan, in the selection of compliance-gaining strategies by lower status people as differentiated from a group leader in a short-term, task-oriented relationship. The subjects for this study consisted of 114 (59 male and 55 female) U.S. college students and 165 (65 male and 100 female) Japanese college students. All subjects lived in Oregon.

After the subjects read the hypothetical scenario which involved changing a task for a classroom project, a 21 item questionnaire was administered. The questions were taken from Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson's (1980) study, and a six-point scale was used. The …

The Effects Of Perceived Work Schedule Flexibility, Number Of Hours Worked, And Type Of Work Schedule On Work-Family Conflict, Tenora Dianne Grigsby

Dissertations and Theses

The interaction effects of perceived work schedule flexibility (PWSF) and the number of hours worked on work-family conflict, and the interaction effects of PWSF and the type of work schedule on work-family conflict were investigated for employees of a regional bank headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. A 50% response rate was obtained from a survey questionnaire administered to 2,000 randomly selected employees.

Hierarchial multiple regression analyses conducted on 526 subjects revealed no significant interaction effects for PWSF and type of work schedule. The interaction effect for PWSF and number of hours worked was not tested due to a significant correlation …

The Identity In Crisis: A New Approach To The Culture Shock Experience Of University Exchange Students, Christina Maria Luther

Dissertations and Theses

The relationship of language and culture is explored in this thesis for the purpose of better understanding why all sojourners, regardless of preparation, experience some degree of culture shock. The author begins with a review of literature on culture shock establishing that the native language of sojourners is not considered to be of any consequence to the sojourning experience. The fields of intercultural communication, social psychology and psychology are then explored to establish the link between language and culture and to introduce the notion of linguistic identity. Evidence found in each of these fields leads the author to conclude that …

Determinants Of Elite Athletes' Commitment To Sport: Examination Of The Sport Commitment Model In The Professional Sport Domain, Tammy Kay Hall

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the applicability of the Sport Commitment Model for a group of elite, professional athletes. The model proposes that an athlete's commitment will increase as sport enjoyment, personal investments, social constraints, and involvement opportunities increase and will decrease with an increase in involvement opportunities. The influence of identification as an athlete, a determinant of commitment not included in the original model, was also examined. One hundred and eighty three professional football players from the Canadian Football League (CFL) (n = 121) and National Football League (NFL) (n = 69) participated in the study. Each subject completed …

Child Care Support And The Reduction Of Women's Stress And Role Conflict At The Work-Family Interface, Frances Marx Stehle

Dissertations and Theses

Working mothers may encounter difficulty combining work and family, particularly as this interface involves child care arrangements.

This research investigated the effects of various dimensions of child care support on stress and role conflict in employed mothers. It was hypothesized that as job support, affordability, spousal support, and satisfaction with child care increased, that child care stress, job stress, and role conflict would decrease.

The data were derived from a survey (Lane County Dependent Care survey, Emlen, 1990) of women employed in 15 companies in the Lane County, Oregon area. The study sample consisted of 825 full and part-time employed …

Comparative Scores Of Hearing-Impaired And Normally Hearing Children Given The Carolina Picture Vocabulary Test, Barbara Ann Mccomb

Dissertations and Theses

It is important that educators use adequate assessment procedures when placing hearing-impaired children in mainstreamed settings. Receptive vocabulary tests are part of the standardized test battery and can provide educators with valuable information. Although there has been a receptive vocabulary test recently developed for use with hearing-impaired children (CPVT), the most commonly used test with this population is the PPVT-R, which is standardized on normally hearing children. In order to further explore the difference between the receptive vocabulary of hearing-impaired and normally hearing children, a test standardized on hearing-impaired should be used.

The purpose of the present study was to …

This Looks Like An Old Point: Time And Projectile Points In The Tualatin Valley, Oregon, Linda Lani Freidenburg

Dissertations and Theses

Little is known about the time depth of human occupation in the Tualatin Valley. Archaeological investigations have produced no absolute dates for the few sites tested. Projectile points collected from the Ibach and Heynderickx farms in the Tualatin Valley show similarities to early point styles from sites in the Pacific Northwest dating from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. To determine how old the Ibach and Heynderickx sites are, the undated collections of 107 Ibach points and 119 Heynderickx points are compared to two established chronological projectile point sequences, which had been constructed using the relative dating technique of frequency seriation. …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Work Involvement And Family Involvement And Work-Family Conflict In Dual-Career Families, Elizabeth Jean Allen

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examined the relationship between work involvement and family involvement and work-family conflict in dual-career families. Four hundred thirty-six couples (436 females; 436 males; N = 872) in dual-career relationships were recruited from a bank organization in the Northwest United States. The survey questionnaire contained three sections to measure work and family involvement, work-family conflict, and sociodemographic information. Data analyses were conducted using multiple regression analysis and a 1 X 4 ANOVA to examine the proposed relationships among the study variables. Results demonstrated the following: across study participants, work involvement accounted for a significant amount of variance in …

Hidden Hills, Hidden Meanings: A Neighborhood Study, Terri Ewing

Dissertations and Theses

"Hidden Hills" is a secure, isolated enclave of 550 homes, with a long history of political and economic power wielded, in some cases, by families who have lived there for generations. This neighborhood serves as the bedroom for many of Portland's wealthy and well-known and has housed many of Oregon's-leading figures. It is faced with SB 917, a 1991 mandate to merge its only formal social institution, its 104-year-old school district, with one of two contiguous districts. Merger will not mean the immediate closure of the school, but will mean the loss of local administrative and political control and changes …

Expressive Communication And Socialization Skills Of Five-Year Olds With Slow Expressive Language Development, Nicole Anne Midford

Dissertations and Theses

Beginning at birth, a child's receptive and expressive language skills are developing in stages. Likewise, the child's socialization skills are progressing in stages. However, it does not seem that communication and socialization are developing independently of each other. Rather, it seems that their development is interrelated. Children learn to speak in a social context, and social situations are necessary for the development of a variety of language structures. On the same note, in order for those language structures to develop normally, it is necessary for the child to participate in different social situations.

Social interactionists have theorized for some time …

Police Stress: A Literature Study On Police Occupational Stressors And The Responses In Police Officers To Stressful Job Events, Katarina Ahlstrom Mannheimer

Dissertations and Theses

The present paper is a literature study of stressors and the responses in police officers to occupational stressors. It endeavors to identify and assess common stressors in policing. It further aims to provide an answer to the question of whether police administrative tasks and situations, or the dangerous and traumatic events and situations inherent in policing, are perceived as equally or more stressful by surveyed police officers. The question is relevant as there seems to be disagreement among researchers on police stress about which elements (administrative or dangerous and/or traumatic) of the police occupation is more stressful. Much attention has …

Correlations Between The School Situations Questionnaire-Revised And Speech And Language Disorders, Geraldine Teresa Comerford

Dissertations and Theses

Many children with emotional and/or behavioral disorders also present with speech and language disorders. Children with attention deficits, in particular, have shown a much higher incidence of speech and language disorders than does the general population.

Traditionally, school speech-language pathologists have been responsible for conducting mass screenings to determine which children should be further evaluated for speech and language disorders. An increasing number of school districts are relying on teacher referrals to determine which children require speech-language evaluations. It was hypothesized that if teachers were able to identify children with attention deficits, these children may be appropriate for referral to …

A Study Of Gender And Personality Factors In Work-Family Conflict Models, Steven Donald Ward

Dissertations and Theses

There were three underlying purposes to this study: 1) To test the main effect of gender on work -> family and family -> work conflict; 2) To re-examine the predictors of inter-role conflict used by Frone, Russell, and Cooper (1992) (i.e., job involvement, job stress, family involvement, and family stress); and 3) To investigate the importance of using personality characteristics as predictors of how individuals deal with inter-role conflict. A questionnaire was assembled, consisting of: a work -> family conflict spillover scale, a family -> work conflict spillover scale, a job involvement scale, a family involvement scale, a job stressors …

The Assimilation And Integration Processes: A Study Of The Commitment Patterns During Students' Entry Into College, Suzanne M. Pastori

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the heuristic value of applying the organizational model of Jablin, Putnam, Roberts, and Porter (1987), who studied newcoming employees assimilating into an organization, to the study of newcoming students integrating into an educational institution.

Three hundred and fifty-five college students were surveyed. I used an adapted version of Mowday, Porter, and Steer's (1982) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire.

Two hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis One states: The higher the level of expressed commitment the more likely it is that the student will express the intention to remain. Hypothesis Two states: Within Terms One, Two, and Three, the higher the level …

Portland As A Divided City: Geographical Voting Patterns On Ballot Measures In The November 1990 Elections, Dmitry Sharkov

Dissertations and Theses

A significant and challenging topic for contemporary geography is an understanding of how the social construction of space both reflects social forces and at the same time structures those forces. This thesis is a case study of how political and social attitudes, measured as an outcome of votes for different issues, reflect the social organization of space in Multnomah County, Oregon. It employs an arealstructural (ecological) approach. Using eleven different issues voted upon in the general elections of November, 1990, it analyzes relationships between ballot items and socioeconomic characteristics of the electorate for small geographic areas in the county. The …

Cultural Bias In The Assessment Of Phonological Processes In Conjunction With The App-R, Sharon Elise Soliday

Dissertations and Theses

Normal phonological development is characterized by phonological processes in preschool children. These processes are sound error patterns, in relation to the adult target, that are expected within the speech of normally developing children. As children grow older, they "outgrow" these developmental errors.

Within the black English dialect, speakers may use a combination of these processes and not be considered phonologically impaired within their linguistic community.

The purpose of this study was to assess and compare phonological process usage in the speech of lower socioeconomic black and white preschoolers.

The APP-R in conjunction with the CAPP was administered to two groups …

The Concepts Of Capitalism And Democracy In Implied Power Relations: Fractionation Philosophy And Theory, Randy Baker

Dissertations and Theses

This research proposes that it is possible to meaningfully examine the differences between subjects' perceptions of concepts at two different levels of analysis. The central theory, called "fractionation", is derived from structuration theory. The theory suggests that there is an important and particular difference between subjects' perceptions of key concepts at the value (abstract) level, as differentiated from the policy (action) level. The key concepts provided here are capitalism and democracy. Three major stages of data gathering and analysis were conducted. The first stage, carried out in several phases, surveyed 337 college students to gather words commonly associated with two …

A Location Analysis Of Vandalism To The Rock Art Of The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Julia J. Wilt

Dissertations and Theses

Archaeological sites in the New World are the fragile and non-renewable remains of cultures which flourished for thousands of years prior to European contact and displacement. Sites which escape the effects of erosion and development often fall victim to vandalism. Cultural resources, including rock art and other archaeological sites, are protected by state and federal laws which prohibit the removal or disturbance of the sites, whether from development or from vandalism. Vandalism is frequently seen as a problem for law enforcement rather than a problem for cultural resource management. Management plans which include cultural resource protection provisions and guidelines often …