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The Correlation Between The Levels Of Education Of Clinical Laboratory Personnel And The Accuracy Of Peripheral Blood Smear Results, Susan J. Leclair

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study correlated the performance accuracy of peripheral blood differentials evaluated by clinical laboratory scientists and clinical laboratory technicians. Fifty-one senior-year students from four clinical laboratory science baccalaureate programs and 37 second-year students from five clinical laboratory technician programs were given 10 peripheral blood differentials to perform. Results were compared to the values assigned by the Rajamaki method of proficiency testing. There was a significant discrepancy in the levels of accuracy between the two cohorts, suggesting that the results of peripheral blood differentials performed by clinical laboratory technicians is suspect. Facilities wishing to maintain or improve the quality of laboratory …

The Effectiveness Of Experiential Education In Executive Development, Marlene Handley Rodenbaugh

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This study explored the effectiveness of the Tavistock model, an experiential learning approach, in mobilizing change in the perception of authority relations of business executives as they interacted in a group relations event. A secondary goal was to test perceptions about this model as an effective executive development program. Results of prior studies on experiential learning outcomes are inconsistent, and few demonstrate that results match learning goals. This exploratory study used both quantitative and qualitative methods: Q-methodology and a questionnaire augmented by personal interviews, respectively. The results were triangulated in operationalizating the Kirkpatrick model, a widely accepted evaluation method for …

Psychosocial Adjustment To Breast Cancer: The Role Of Marital Support And Approach Coping, Jacqueline K. Schonholtz

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This quantitative correlational study examined the role of approach coping and marital support in predicting psychosocial adjustment in 21 married women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. Psychosocial adjustment was assessed with the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale, a measure of overall adjustment to illness. Approach coping was assessed with the Coping Responses Inventory, an inventory that measures coping strategies for dealing with a stressful event. Marital support was assessed with the Family Relationships Index, a measure of relationship functioning that focuses on the amount of togetherness, open communication, and conflict in the marriage. The independent variables of approach coping and …

An Analysis Of Physicians' Reluctance To Follow Terminally Ill Patients' Advance Directives, Norma Poirier

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This explanatory study examined the reasons why physicians have difficulty respecting the wishes of terminally ill patients who refuse treatment. Consistent with the relevant literature, three alternative explanations were hypothesized in answering the question: fear of litigation, religious beliefs, and medical professional values.

Evidence was gathered from three different sources. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 24 emergency physicians from the Moncton Area in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and submitted to both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Nineteen cases of terminally ill patients whose wishes not to be treated were not respected were collected and submitted to content …

Oyster Fisheries Management Of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, Diana Locke

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This study examines the concept of property rights in relation to fisheries resource management in the Maryland oyster fishery. An analysis of the past and present state of this fishery on the Chesapeake Bay focused on the administrative, biological, social, economic, and political influences in fisheries management and their potential consequences. This single fishery once provided a quarter of America's oysters but, if the oyster population decline continues, it may soon become a memory. Though Maryland has a dual property rights structure, private and public, the public fishery predominates. The reasons why privatization has not been a successfully implemented strategy, …

Portrait Of Success: A Situational Analysis Case Study Of Students Challenged By Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Sandra Hundley Zimmermann

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This study examined factors that encouraged and supported academic success for students diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Students with ADHD are often not academically successful and do not graduate from high school, due in large measure to ADHD symptoms of (a) impulsive and reckless behaviors, (b) alienation from significant others including peers, and (c) disorganization. Students in this study overcame symptoms of ADHD and were academically successful.

The situational analysis case study design for this research utilized both qualitative methods (interview, observation, and record review) and quantitative instrumentation. Five students with ADHD comprised the case study sample. Data from student, …

A Content Analysis Study Of Portable Assisted Study Sequence Mathematics Curricular Materials For Migrant Students Using The National Council Of Teachers Of Mathematics Standards, Karen I. Conger

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The need for change in the mathematics curricula in our public schools has been well documented (Kirwan, 1990; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; National Research Council, 1989; Overby, 1993). Testing surveys show low overall performance at every age throughout the K-12 levels. The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, (Standards) issued by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1989 are designed to move mathematics curricula forward to meet the needs of students for the future. The analysis of new curricular materials is essential in order to produce materials that meet recommended standards.

Migrant students …

Parent Satisfaction With Staff Interactions At A Community Based Mental Health Center, Chrisanne Marie Christensen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigates an important issue in mental health service provision, the level of parental satisfaction with staff interactions at a community based mental health center. A small target population, which included all families who had received services within a one year time frame, were surveyed via mail to determine levels of satisfaction. Parents responded to a questionnaire and data were collected to determine overall satisfaction, areas of service in need of improvement and areas of interaction which were most unsatisfactory. Additionally, data were compared to past study material to determine either an increase or decrease in parent satisfaction within …

Environmental Public Policy: An Analysis Of Public Opinion And Environmental Legislation In North Carolina, John Carson Cato

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

The research was designed to give additional insight into the public policy process. Specifically, the focus of the study was on environmental public policy and the assumed relationship between public opinion on environmental issues and environmental legislation. A secondary emphasis of the research was to review environmental quality and consider the environmental quality as a function of legislative and regulatory impact. The study was restricted to the state of North Carolina and used a public opinion survey, legislative record review, and environmental quality data as the primary indicators.

The results of the study showed that (a) citizens in North Carolina …

Diversity Deprivation Overcome: A Predominately Caucasian Catholic High School Addresses Societal Racial Prejudice, Michele Ray Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examines Monsignor Donovan High School, Toms River, Trenton Diocese, New Jersey's situation as a predominately Caucasian environment seeking to prepare students to adapt successfully to an increasingly diverse society. The author identifies the need for the students to gain a broader view of the world than evidenced by their school's population, examines the societal situations that led to the problem of prejudice in American society, explores the role of Catholic education in addressing prejudice and reports on polls of the MDHS Classes of 1994 and 1997 relative to their racial attitudes. Through a qualitative case study, the researcher …

Quality Control Practices For Postoperative Eye Care In Rural Arizona, Robert Mark Rummel

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

Health care services in the United States are regulated and monitored by federal and state agencies in order to protect the American public. The primary function of these regulating agencies is to assure that any medical procedure or service meets or exceeds the established minimum standards of care. The purpose of this study is to evaluate one aspect of medical care along with its corresponding quality control system.

In the area of eye surgery and postoperative eye care, this investigator encountered several clinical situations in which the quality of medical care has been compromised, increasing the patient's risk of postoperative …

Early Intervention And Parenting Support In The Public Schools: An Inalienable Right For All, Heidi Berlinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The present study was designed to document the effects of early intervention and parenting support, and to provide a model program proposal for federal adoption. Specifically, this paper redefines the term "readiness" to recognize the diverse needs of infants and their families.

Research indicates several factors influence school readiness: physical well-being and motor development including proper prenatal, perinatal, and early childhood care and nutrition; social and emotional development; approaches toward learning; language usage; and cognition and general knowledge. Parental understanding of how to facilitate the advancement of young children in these areas is extremely important. Without this knowledge parents are …

The Impact Of A Nursing Case Management Model On Quality Of Care As Defined By Length Of Stay, Health Outcomes, And Patient Satisfaction, Gladeen A. Ayer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of a nursing case management model versus a traditional modified primary care model on quality of care. Quality of care in this study was defined (by the provider) as length of stay, (by the client) as patient satisfaction and (by the professional) as meeting outcomes of appropriate clinical standards of care.

The study used a quasi-experimental design on the experimental (case managed) and control (modified primary care) groups. A non-random sample was selected for the patient population due to existing hospital protocol. The sample consisted of 100 patients (641 total …

Management Reorganizations In The Thb Global Banks - A Case Study, David Clancy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The dissertation focuses on the multiple reorganizations of Manufacturers Hanover between March 1985 and June 1991. The research sought to find a relationship with the reorganizations and the stock price and performance measures of the Bank. The purpose was to determine if the reorganizations provided a measurable impact on theperformance of the Bank. The conclusions of this research established that the reorganizations, if intended to improve the performance of the Bank, were not effective.

A Correlational Study Of The Extrinsic Variables That Influence Job Satisfaction In Social Services Workers, Delores B. Cauthen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This correlational study examined the job satisfaction of seventy eight social service workers in a small unit of a large bureaucratic agency of the Department of Social Services. Extrinsic factors (education, job level, and organizational tenure) were correlated with job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. The results yielded three scores: intrinsic, extrinsic, and general satisfaction. Pearson's and Spearman's correlations were used. Intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction were found to be moderately correlated (r=.40). Although the employees' intrinsic and extrinsic percentile rankings were low, the general satisfaction ranking was in the average range.

Education, organizational tenure, and …

The Influence Of Antimicrobial Use On Bacterial Resistance, James T. Griffith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antimicrobial resistance is becoming an increasingly serious problem accompanied by relatively few studies examining the relationship between use and resistance. The present study undertakes a twenty year analysis of antimicrobial production and factors affecting antimicrobial use for a particular microorganism (Stp. faecalis)/antimicrobial agent (Cephalothin) combination. The period is inclusive of the market introduction of the agent and considerate of prescribing practices to the present time. The accumulated data reveal that there is indeed a relationship between total drug availability (medicinal, agricultural) and increased antimicrobial resistance. The data also suggest that national (or global) use changes would likely have a long …

The Role Of Small To Medium-Size Private Companies As Change Agents In Manpower Development In The Eastern Province Of Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Mohammed Al-Kadi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of the study was to explore in depth the problem of the skilled Saudi labor shortage in Saudi Arabia. More specifically, it investigated the role of small to medium-size private companies in developing manpower for the kingdom. To investigate this role, the study sought to answer the following research questions:

1. To what extent do small and medium-size firms attract Saudi youth to work in practical skill areas?

2. Do small and medium-size firms offering training take traditional values or customs into consideration when determining training needs?

3. Is Saudization a factor when determining training needs?

4. Are …

Perceived Effect Of Personal Use Of Managerial Workstations On Individual Productivity, Katherine Stewart Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this research was to determine the extent of penetration of managerial workstations into the management ranks; and whether age, education and exposure to automation do affect perceptions and subsequent productivity gains from workstation utilization.

Are the attitudes and beliefs of older managers the key factor in slowing progress in implementing change and reaping the benefits of productivity? Or, are companies failing in their implementation strategies and participative management approaches?

A descriptive-survey design was utilized. The cover letter and three-page questionnaire were circulated to 490 companies in the five-county metropolitan Atlanta area. Represented in this sample was a …

The Effects Of A Psychologically Based Training Program Upon Athletic Performance, Bertram Burke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to develop a psychologically based training technique that would help maximize athletic performance. The technique entitled the Six Step Technique was then experimentally tested to determine its effect on lowering state anxiety and improving foul shooting under experimental conditions.

Specifically three schools were randomly selected from a suburban athletic conference and their Varsity and Junior Varsity male basketball teams comprised the samples of the study. The three schools were then randomly assigned to an experimental treatment group, a placebo treatment group and a control treatment group. Prior to the start of treatment(s) the. groups …

To What Extent Current In Service Education Programs At Hospital Level In Puerto Rico Help The Newly Professional And Technical Nurse In The Development Of Practical Nursing Skills, Andrea Guzman Berrios

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

THE PROBLEM

This study was directed to determine to What Extent Inservice Educational Programs in Puerto Rico help the Newly Professional and Technical Nurse in the Development of Practical Nursing skills and Fulfillment of Needs.

PROCEDURE

Eight current inservice educational programs were analyzed from four private and four state hospitals. The sample was composed of two hundred professional and technical nurses both sexes, plus a number of forty seven administrative nursing personnel included in the study, based on their relationship within inservice programs and graduate nurses' performance in practice. The main instrument used in the study was a questionnaire validated …

The Frontier Nursing Service As An Agent Of Change, Nancy Dammann

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the influence of the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) on the area in which it operated. Mary Breckinridge founded the FNS in 1925 to demonstrate a method of delivering health care in an isolated rural area. She selected Leslie County in southeast Kentucky for its locale because of its isolation; there were no roads in the county and no licensed physicians.

The FNS program centered on nurse-midwives who provided health care from decentralized district clinics so situated that no family was more than an hour's horseback or jeep ride away. A hospital and …

To Determin Whether Or Not Significant Change In Spirituality Occurred In Persons Who Attended A Kubler-Ross Life, Death, And Transition Workshop During The Period June 1977 Through February 1979, John B. Alexander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Problem. The problem was to determine whether or not significant change in spirituality occurred in people who attended a Life, Death, and Transition workshop during the period June 1977 through February 1979.

Procedures. To measure change in spirituality, an instrument, the Spirituality Change Survey, was designed and tested. The instrument, which contained seven open-ended items and eleven semantic differential items, was determined to have moderately high internal reliability, 0.759, based on Coefficient Alpha. Two forms of the instrument were used, Eighty-seven participants from two workshops responded to a pretest- posttest mode, while 157 participants from eleven additional workshops responded …

An Investigation Of The Value Of Detection Of Potential Readnig Difficulties At The Kindergarten Level Followed By Specific Individualized Instruction As A Preventative Measure Against Reading Failure, Kathleen Barrett-Marko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this investigation was to use and evaluate a preventative measure against reading failure at the kindergarten level. This technique of prevention used diagnostic detection. of potential reading difficulties followed by individualized treatment of indicated problem areas. A careful attempt was made to answer the following questions.

1. What is the most effective time to begin remedial reading instruction?

2. Do undetected difficulties in pre-reading skills lead to reading failure?

3. Is the original kindergarten screening test used as efficient as, or more efficient than, the standardized tests in current use?

4. Which techniques and methods of instruction …

A Study Of Attitudinal Responses Of Selected School District Personnel And Related Others Regarding Six Performance Contracting Hypotheses In Seventeen Selected Performance Contracting Projects In The United States For The Year 1970-71, Jerome D. Cianfrini

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract not visible.

A Study Of The Effects On Students In A Community Consolidated School District In Illinois Of Selected Activities Funded Under Title I Of The Elementary And Secondary Education Act Of 1965, James H. Ellis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to identify objectives and identify and measure the effects of selected activities supported with Title I Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 funds on disadvantaged students with respect to their academic achievement, social and personal development and class attendance. One East-Central Illinois Public School District was selected for the study. The school district included grades kindergarten through twelve with an enrollment approximating 10,000 during the school years under review. Of that total enrollment, approximately 1500 students each year were classified as eligible for funding purposes. The school years included were 1966-67 through …

Challenges Of Humanistic Psychology For Secondary Education, Walter P. Dember

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A new conception of man is now being unfolded in a very different orientation toward psychology or in a new psychology called "Humanistic Psychology." It is the purpose of this thesis to arrive at these new concepts of man through research into the writings of and about four humanistic psychologists--Gordon W. Allport, James F. T. Bugental, Abraham H. Maslow, and Carl R. Rogers--and to use their own writings to interpret what may be the effects of the major concepts of their humanistic psychology on education. I have used the historical approach in my own study of the movement in the …

A Descriptive Study Of A Successful School Bond And Rate Referenda Campaign, Howard Marvin Eilks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

It is the purpose of this study to present a detailed analysis of the methods and techniques employed in the November 23, 1968 passage of a school bond referendum, and tax rate increases in the education and building funds for Maercker School District #60, Clarendon Hills, Illinois. As per data from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Illinois Education Association, and a local newspaper, The Trib, school referenda are increasingly meeting with voter rejection. Only 53.2 per cent of the nation's bond referenda were approved during the fiscal year 1969-1970. The percentage of successful referenda in Illinois has …

The Effect Of Kinesthetic And Demonstration Techniques Of Instruction Upon Standing Broad Jump Performance, Howard Philip Meyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A test of standing broad jump ability was administered to ninety-three sixth grade boys to compare the kinesthetic and demonstration methods of instruction. The subjects were classified on the Neilson-Cozens Classification Index and divided into three groups. The first group received the kinesthetic method of instruction, the second group was instructed using the demonstration method, and the third group did not receive any formal instruction.

The data were examined by computing the mean and standard deviation of each pre-test and post-test group. The mean and standard deviation of the pre-test scores were 60.61 and 7.589. The mean and standard deviation …

Innovation, Adoption, And Cultural Change: Guide Lines For Administrators Of Adult Education Programs, Walter Clot

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract included.

The Settlement House - Community Center As An Adjunct To The Inner City Educational Opportunies In The Northwest Portland, Oregon, Edd Walter Crawford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study has been to present a description of an inner-city neighborhood in the Northwest District of Portland, Oregon, and to identify educational needs and opportunities in broad terms. It provides a detailed description of the community, the educational institutions located within the community or utilized by students from the community seeking a high school education, and a community based agency, Friendly House, Inc. Other purposes have been to inventory available community resources, to establish criteria for the purpose of constructing a delivery system to strengthen the effectiveness of existing services, or where necessary to initiate services …