Digital Commons Network^™

Market Orientation: Towards An Understanding In Developing Marketplaces Of South America, Howard Warren Olsen

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Theory development is essential for the health and wellbeing of marketing as it provides boundaries and a foundation for the growth of the discipline. Kohli and Jaworski's (1990, 1993) efforts provided the critical first step in the evolution of market orientation theory. However, evidence has not confirmed regularities in various industry circumstances as well as different international marketplaces. The literature is replete with a variety of different scales that have been used. Finally, the concept of market orientation is based upon the premise that such activities enhance business performance, but requisite performance measures have not been properly matched with the …

The Impact Of Parental Variables On Child Behavior At Home And In The Daycare Classroom, Margaret Sue Hart

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study was designed examine the relationships among parental variables and child behavior in different settings and to test four path analytic models of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior as reported by both parents and primary daycare teachers. Participants were 104 intact couples with children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years. Mothers and fathers independently completed a packet of questionnaires including measures of masculinity ideology, parenting beliefs, work stress, work-family conflict, marital conflict, child behavior, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Correlations among parent and child variables were calculated. Moderate relationships between maternal and paternal variables …

Parenting Behaviors Related To Young Adult Depressive Symptomology, Rebecca D. Abramson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Parental stress, hostility, warmth, acceptance, amount of control, and overall security of parent-child attachment appears to influence childhood and adult adjustment. Several relationships have been found between parenting style and the emotional and psychological well being of children and adolescents (e.g., Baumrind, 1967, 1971; Parker, 1979a, 1979b; Ge, Conger, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; Ge, Best, Conger, & Simons, 1996). The present study examined the effects of perceived parenting styles on young adults' reported psychological distress and depressive symptomology. Participants viewed both mothers and fathers as equally attentive, supportive, and controlling, while viewing mothers as slightly more caring. However, participants' perceptions …

Motion Perception Of Angularly Expanding Stimuli Within A Presence Versus Absence Framework, Nathan R. Bailey

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that searching for the presence of a feature among featureless distractors is easier than searching for the absence of a feature among distractor objects containing the feature. The present study examined motion perception within this context while manipulating motion type and target density. Further, the element of angular expansion was also included as part of the moving stimuli. Using a standard computer interface, participants were asked to respond as quickly as they could to a variety of moving stimuli. Results showed that it took more time to detect stationary targets among moving distractors than to find moving …

Good Grief: Representations Of The Death Of Children In Early American Writings, Lisa M. Murray

English Theses & Dissertations

From the spare journals of John Winthrop and William Bradford to the Day of Doom exhortation of Michael Wigglesworth, one can see the basis for a commonly held image of the early Puritan colonists as being a stern, humorless community. This is not inconsistent with the theological underpinnings of the Puritans' faith. Further, some research, such as that by John Demos and Karin Calvert, has concluded that the children of these colonists were not accorded the status of individuals; rather they were variously held at an emotional distance or otherwise marginalized, in part because of the very real threat of …

Minimum Mean Square Error Spectral Peak Envelope Estimation For Automatic Vowel Classification, Jaishree Venugopal

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Spectral feature computations continue to be a very difficult problem for accurate machine recognition of speech. In this work, which focuses on vowels, a new spectral peak envelope method for vowel classification is developed, based on a missing frequency components model of speech recognition. According to the missing frequency components model, vowel recognition depends only on the spectral (harmonic) peaks. Smoothing and interpolation of the spectra, performed in the standard cepstral analysis method commonly used in automatic speech recognition, actually loses valuable information and results in reduced recognition accuracy. The new method for feature extraction presented in this thesis is …

In Support Of A Rationally Managed Fishery: Age And Growth In Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), Julian R. Ashford

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) occur on the continental shelves and shelf breaks of southern South America and the Southern Ocean. Stock structure, critical to good fisheries management, can be inferred from growth differences between areas, but available growth data are compromised by inconsistencies in age estimation methods, sampling and sample sizes, and techniques used to derive estimates. I asked the scientific question: how is growth in Patagonian toothfish structured spatially within the Southern Ocean? I developed a multi-stage randomized design to sample fish caught by commercial longline, and an age estimation methodology. Because toothfish are difficult to age, …

Methods Of Detecting Differential Item Functioning: A Comparison Of Item Response Theory And Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Ratchaneewan Wanichtanom

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when an item performs statistically differently for a reference group than for a focal group. DIF is a threat to the validity of a test, and it can lead to illegal usage of a test in situations such as employee selection. Thus, DIF has important implications for test construction and practice. This research is a Monte Carlo study that compares Item Response Theory (IRT) and three Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) methods for detecting DIF. The three CFA methods were Model Comparison (MC), Modification Indexes (MI), and Modification Indexes-Divided sample (MI-Divided).

The research compared the detection …

Urban Terrorism: Strategies For Mitigating Terrorist Attacks Against The Domestic Urban Environment, John J. Kiefer

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study identifies strategies to mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks against the domestic urban environment. It uses multiple qualitative research methods to identify patterns of attack used by terrorists against urban targets in the United States and suggest ways for policymakers to mitigate the effects of a terrorist attack through not only physical, but also organizational, political, legal, and social strategies. It uses case analysis, literature review, and interviews with experts in domestic terrorism preparedness to develop and suggest solutions.

Terrorism, as with other criminal acts, can best be met by implementing strategies to mitigate the impact of this …

Court, Clients And Kingship: A Study Of Royal Executive Style During The Reign Of James I, Nick Jon Ziegler

History Theses & Dissertations

The thesis explores James Stuart's distinct style of kingship as a self-proclaimed absolute monarch whose writings, speeches and public image belied his intention to rule moderately for the welfare of his subjects. The king's reign is analyzed with regard to his ideas on monarchy and government, ecclesiastical policies, problems with clientage, relations with favourites and court culture. Both in Scotland and England, James' writings reveal his static approach to governing key institutions of church and state. The Jacobean court served as the locus of state political power as well as royal patronage, thus drawing many suitors for public offices and …

Globalization And The Paradox Of Incorporation And Marginalization: An Exploratory Note On Sub-Saharan Africa, Charles R. Lartey

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Globalization has of late become the lingua franca of the study of the international political economic system. As its ideological counterpart, globalization has elevated neoliberalism to the status of an international theology. To harness the benefits of a globalizing world economy, conventional wisdom consider the dictums underlying neoliberal policies as “immutable laws” that must be adopted by both the developing and the developed world.

Utilizing a structured, focused analysis based on a case study of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this research challenges the orthodox notion that the new international context of development that is instigated by the imperatives of globalization, and …

The Effects Of The Help One Student To Succeed (Hosts) Program On The Reading Achievement Of At-Risk 4th And 5th Grade Elementary Students, Kelvin L. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study investigated the effects of the Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) tutoring program on the reading achievement of at-risk 4^th and 5^th grade elementary students, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skill (TAAS). Seventy-eight 4^th and 5^th grade at-risk students from four Title I elementary schools in the Plano Independent School District participated in the study. Thirty-nine of these students were enrolled in the HOSTS program and were matched to a comparison group of students according to ethnicity, age, gender, grade, free or reduced lunch, bilingual and English as a Second language …

The Effects Of Training In Teamwork Skills On Intact Student Teams, Lara Bryan Tedrow

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the effect of a theory-based training program in teamwork skills on the performance, satisfaction and teamwork skills of students working in teams on class projects. Twenty-seven teams of students were recruited from six different classes across departments at a local university. Teams were assigned to either a placebo session or an experimental training session, which trained them in teamwork skills, based on the Dickinson and McIntyre (1997) model of teamwork. Teams were then compared on project grades, ratings of satisfaction on the Group Attitude Scale (Evans & Jarvis, 1986) and ratings of teamwork on the Teamwork Component …

Fighting "Don't Know, Don't Care": The Fcda's Public Education Quest, Rachel M. Mihalovich

History Theses & Dissertations

The Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) was created in December 1950 to prepare the civilian population of the United States to survive and recover from a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union and its allies. Contemporary civil defense theory dictated that this goal should be met by educating the American public in order to avoid a negative psychological reaction that would prevent survival and recovery. In order to evaluate the success of the FCDA's civil defense program, this study will investigate the composition of the FCDA and its public education program.

This study utilized several types of sources in evaluating …

Theology, Tradition, And Turbulent Times: Ordination Of Women In The Lutheran Church, 1970, Donna L. Koch

History Theses & Dissertations

Only relatively recently in the United States have women officially been able to preach, administer the sacraments, and minister fully to the spiritual needs of congregations as ordained Protestant clergy. For millions of Lutherans in the United States, 1970 was the beginning of a new era in their church when the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) and the American Lutheran Church (ALC) changed centuries of tradition and prepared the way for women to join the clergy. The third national Lutheran body, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), at both its 1969 and 1971 conventions retained its conservative position, as it …

Childhood Obesity And Its Relationship To Sedentary Behavior Patterns Vs. Other Independent Risk Factors Of Obesity Among Navy Dependent Adolescents, Shaye Lauren Arluk

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Background According to data gathered in the NHANES 1999 survey 14% of American children are now classified as obese, a 60% increase in prevalence from the NHANES II survey in 1976. Multiple research studies have looked at the role of dietary intake, heredity, and physical activity participation as independent risk factors of obesity with mixed results. However, sedentary behavior patterns, which have markedly increased in the past ten years, have not been extensively studied in relation to childhood obesity. The goal of this study was to focus on the relationship between various sedentary behaviors and childhood obesity.

Methods Two descriptive …

Psychophysiological Measures And Performance Effects In An Adaptive Sustained Attention Task, Gerald Alan Hadley

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This experiment examined the effect of a biocybernetic system that had been successfully used to control an adaptive automation compensatory tracking task (Freeman, Mikulka, Prinzel, & Scerbo, 1999; Pope, Bogart, & Bartolome, 1995). The present study applied this adaptive automation system to a vigilance task. Recordings of EEG activity were used to derive an index of task engagement, beta/(alpha+ theta). A training session was used to establish a baseline level of this index. Index levels above baseline reflected an increase in arousal, while levels below baseline indicated decreased arousal. Three groups (production, reception, and control) performed the task which presented …

The Effects Of Equal Opportunity Fairness And Diversity On Work Group Efficacy, Job Satisfaction, And Organizational Commitment In The Military: A Test Of Structural Invariance, Nancy P. Emery

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to test the invariance of a structural equation model of equal opportunity fairness (EOF) in the U.S. military across ethnic and gender groups. Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey (MEOCS) data drawn from four distinct sociocultural groups in the military were tested on a model that fit the MEOCS data drawn from a sample of White men. A series of multi-group analyses was conducted on the established structural model using LISREL 8 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1996) to determine whether data from sociocultural groups other than White males would fit a White male model. Further …

Western Psalm, Josh Allen

English Theses & Dissertations

Western Psalm is a memoir that focuses on Utah and the people of that land. It is an attempt to tell the story of one Mormon in the hopes that that one story will capture the larger story of Mormonism itself.

Western Psalm is a book about identity and how identity is shaped by history. It explores Utahan and Mormon histories and the effects those histories have upon individual character. Western Psalm is about the conflict between finding an individual identity while at the same time honoring and being true to the identities that history demands we acknowledge.

In other …

Beneath The Black And Blue: The Child Abuse-Delinquency Connection, Heather M. Baltodano

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine the child abuse-delinquency relationship, as well as mediating variables that may influence that relationship, such as parental attachment, witnessing family violence, and negative life events. Much of the research on this topic utilizes official government statistics and substantiated child abuse cases, which research has shown to be an undercount of the actual incidents of child abuse. This analysis utilizes the data resulting from the 1992 National Youth Victimization Prevention Survey (NYVPS) in which 2000 children between the ages of 10 and 16 were interviewed by telephone. This research examines the impact of …

An Evaluation Of Washington State's First-Time Offender Waiver (Ftow), Marianne Galgon

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Considering the current staggering number of people under various forms of government supervision, reducing recidivism is a serious concern of the criminal justice system. A possible solution to this problem may lie in intensive supervision programs (ISPs) that were implemented in every state by 1990. This thesis evaluates Washington State's First-Time Offender Waiver (FTOW) to determine whether it is a viable alternative to prison for eligible nonviolent offenders. Specifically, I want to know: (1) Is there is a bias in who is sentenced with FTOW based on demographic variables? (2) Do FTOW recipients recidivate more or less compared to eligible …

Part 2: Major League Sports Teams: A Pipe Dream?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

There is remarkably little economic evidence in favor of major league sports franchises, even in cities such as Baltimore. Cities and regions that subsidize major league sports teams nearly always find it a losing proposition. If a region, such as Hampton Roads, attempts to attract a major league sports team, then it should do so for reasons of pride and identification rather than economics.

Learning Style And Laboratory Preference: A Study Of Middle School Technology Education Teachers In Virginia, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Laboratory instruction has long been a cornerstone of technology education pedagogy. The French realized the potential for technical laboratory instruction within general education in 1865 (Bennett, 1926). By the 1880s, the United States also realized the benefits of the technical laboratory for general education (Anderson, 1926). Despite these early roots and the continued practice of utilizing laboratory instruction within technology education, there is little research to support this teaching method. McCrory (1987) noted that there were no studies on laboratories (excluding machine safety) or new technology education equipment during the period 1980-1986. Laboratory studies during the period 1987-1993 concentrated on …

The Relationship Between Brain Dominance And Career Interests, Damon Cary

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between brain dominance and career selection being guided by financial expectations or career interests.

A Study To Determine If There Was A Relationship Between The Brain Dominace And Grade Point Averages Of Students At Deep Creek High School, Donald M. Hurwitz

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The following hypothesis was drafted to measure the affects of brain dominance: Students with left-brain dominance will have higher cumulative grade point averages than students with right-brain dominance.+D105D86:D119D86:D133D87D86:D91D86:D141D87D86:D91D86:D142D86:D141D86:D140D86:D139D86:D138D86:D139D86:D140D86:D141D86:D142D86:D143D86:D141

A Study To Determine Whether Age Is A Factor In The Apprehension Of Students To Use Computers At Southwest Virginia Community College, Delilah T. Long

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The following objectives were identified to guide this research: 1. Identify whether students have access to computers outside the college; 2. Identify whether students have access to the internet outside the college; 3. Identify whether students' age increase their apprehension to use computers to support their coursework; 4. Identify whether courses surveyed required computer knowledge and skills.

Employer Views Of The Work Ethics Of Employment Plus Students, R. John Barbarise

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To guide the solution to this problem, the following goals have been established: 1.What are employer's views of Employment Plus student's work ethics? 2. What changes are recommended for he Employment Plus curriculum at Deep Creek High School to better address the work ethics expected by employers?

The Effects Of Restructuring The Curriculum Of The Joint Targeting School, Jeffrey R. Puckett

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The following questions were established to guide this study: 1. What changes were made to the five-week curriculum in splitting courses into a three-week staff course and a two-week applications course? 2. What effect did changing the curriculum have on student performance? 3. Did changing the curriculum improve student throughput? 4. What impact did dividing the course into two courses have on the number of students receiving congressionally mandated required skills?

A Study To Determine What Factors Influence Students To Enroll At Mountain Empire Community College, Joseph Lincoln Young

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The specific research goals designed to answer this problem included: 1. Identify why traditional students enroll at Mountain Empire Community College; 2. Identify why nontraditional students enroll at Mountain Empire Community College; 3. Identify why students transfer to Mountain Empire Community College after attending another college; 4. Make recommendations on advertising the attributes of an education from Mountain Empire Community College.

A Study To Determine The Differences Between On-Campus Degree Seeking Students And Teletechnet Degree Seeking Students In Academic Performance, Tiffany K. Doxsee

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To find the solution to this problem, the following hypothesis was established: There will be no difference in academic success between on-campus degree seeking students and TELETECHNET distance learning degree seeking students in the undergraduate Occupational and Technical Studies program at Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Virginia.