Digital Commons Network^™

Hiv/Aids In Context: The Culture Of Health Promotion Among Ndau Women In Rural Zimbabwe, Lynne Duffy

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This ethnographic study explored factors that facilitate or hinder women's participation in health promotion and HIV prevention in the Mt. Selinda area of rural Zimbabwe. Rates of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe are among the highest in the world and increasing most quickly among young females. A purposeful convenience sample of 11 Ndau women (key participants) was interviewed twice. Seventeen key informants and four focus groups offered further perspectives. The resulting narrative presents a picture of Ndau women's existence that is difficult and oppressive. Females are socialized early to be workers and mothers within a context of limited voice, subservience, …

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 …

Cross-Cultural Interpretations Of Fraud: An Attitudinal Study In A Middle Eastern Multinational Corporation, Douglas Moore Watson

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This research tested the theory that cultural heritage affects attitudes toward business-related fraud and, as a consequence, influences ethical decisions. A sample of 695 white-collar employees from a Middle Eastern multinational corporation (MNC), who represented nine world cultures, were asked to evaluate scenarios describing five business frauds--bribery, conflict of interest, embezzlement, management fraud, and industrial espionage--against a 7-point Likert-type scale that measured levels of approval. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the responses revealed those claiming African, Caribbean/South American, European, Middle Eastern, and North American cultural heritage viewed fraudulent behavior with a greater degree of disapproval than did those claiming Asian, …

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 …

Validation: The Missing Link In Recovery From Childhood Sexual Abuse?, Jill Wollenzien-Daniels

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This study considered whether validation through corroborative evidence (an outside source affirming the abuse) is necessary for remediation of symptoms in women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) who have varying degrees of PTSD. It utilized multiple case studies, in a mixed qualitative-quantitative design, to gain a better understanding of the role of validation in the recovery process.

Two groups of adult female survivors with varying degrees of PTSD were compared: those who had validation of their abuse experiences through corroborative evidence (n=12), and those who did not (n=13). They were queried about their belief in the importance of validation …

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, …

The Father-Wound In Folklore: A Critique Of Mitscherlich, Bly, And Their Followers, Hal W. Lanse

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

Bly, following the work of Mitscherlich, posits that the Industrial Revolution divided fathers and sons, because they no longer bond while working together on family farms. Bly claims that one result is that fathers feel angry and disenfranchised and their sons consequently suffer a father-wound (either physical or psychic abuse) at their hands.

This, according to Bly, causes young men either to be so angry that they become a threat to society, or so dependent on their mothers that they are socialized as ineffectual, soft males. Many writers and therapists have embraced this theory--despite a lack of historical evidence. This …

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 …

Coping Strategies And Adaptation Mechanisms Utilized By Female Holocaust Survivors From The Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Joy Erlichman Miller

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The female experience during the Holocaust has largely been ignored as significantly different than that of male counterparts. This gender-specific research study investigates the "unique, poignant voices" of women's coping strategies utilized during internment in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Focusing specifically on the video oral history testimonies of the complete collection of female survivors of Auschwitz, which were produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the study suggests that the predominate coping strategies used by females was affiliation with others as the means of survival. Through the utilization of clustering sheets, the data suggested that affiliation and assistance from …

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 …

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 …

A Comparative Analysis Of Adlerian And Theocentric Philosophies, Daniel A. Briggs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research was a comparative historical analysis of Adler's Individual Psychology, Freud's system of psychoanalysis, and Theocentric Psychology. It was assumed that Adlerian constructs are very distinct from Freud's and are greatly influenced by Judaism and Judeo-Christianity.

It was further assumed that if these distinctions and influences could be elucidated via historical research, Adlerian Psychology would seem more palatable to Apostolics (an Apostolic is any individual that adheres to the Apostle's fundamental dogma as presented in the book of Acts chapter two and Hebrews chapter six) as well as more compatible with Theocentric Psychology.

Some of the various theories, constructs, …

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 …

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 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 …

Analysis Of Selected Socio-Political Influences Upon Career Decision-Making Of College Freshman, Priscilla Colton-Ewing

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was conducted to determine whether or not three specific socio-political events influenced freshmen students' career decision-making at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California during the academic years 1968-1974.

The format of the study was established by three descriptive hypotheses:

1) Analyze data from student questionnaires and determine whether or not three specified socio-political events influenced a majority or more college freshmen in their career decision-making during the 1968-1974 academic years. The three socio-political events identified were:

a) United States' withdrawal from military conflicts (Viet Nam)

b) Development of the counter social and values cultures

c) Acceleration of student …

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 …

The Role Of The Superintendent Of Schools In The Process Of Collective Negotiations As Perceived By Local Bargaining Agents, Boards Of Education And Superintendents In Selected School Districts Of New Jersey And Eastern Pennsylvania, Dominick Dinunzio

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No Abstract Present.

The Establishment Of A Management By Objectives ( Accountability Management ) Program In The Niles, Michigan Public School System, William H. Fairman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project is devoted to describing a type of public school educational managem8nt program specifically designed to determine, establish, and evaluate meaningful school management objectives and their application. The study describes how school management under this type of program can be a continuing, dynamic, and positive force toward reaching the desired goals of public school education through effective management of administrative personnel.

The Management by Objectives program is described as it was studied and implemented into the Niles Public School system. Key areas covered are:

1. The inspiration for the managem.ent study which led to the establishment of the program; …

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 …

Advanced Computer Program Models : A Talking Textbook Based On Three Languages, John Thomas Gardner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a learning instrument, to be used by programmers preparing for the Data Processing Management Association Test as a self study book, or by college business programming and computer science students who have completed a course in data processing and a course in programming a higher level language. The mathematical ability requirement was minimized by developing the algorithms in parallel with the programs. The learner should experience _emphasis in the following .areas:

l. The type of activities required to pass the DPMA test (the programming part)

2. Data Structures

3. Fortran (at the …