Digital Commons Network^™

Strategies To Gain A Social License To Operate In The Mining Industry, Luis Llaque

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Failure to gain a social license to operate (SLTO) in the mining industry often leads to mine closures and increased risk exposure that negatively impacts profitability. Mining project managers who do not obtain an SLTO risk project, which can affect profitability. Grounded in general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies used by mining project managers to gain an SLTO to improve profitability effectively. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and document reviews. Participants comprised eight project managers at five mining companies in the Republic of Peru who implemented successful strategies to obtain …

African American Blended Parent Strategies’ And The Influence On Children’S School Performance, Christine Li'chele' Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDue to increasing divorce rates, the number of Americans living in blended family households have increased over the decades. Studies have revealed that some school-aged children who experience family structural changes due to blending families may experience stress that negatively affects their school performance. The purpose of this study was to determine what strategies African American parents in blended family units used to lessen the impact of family structure change on their school-aged children’s school performance. Bowen’s family system’s theory was used to guide this research. A generic qualitative design was used to obtain data from eight participants residing in …

Perceptions Of Students, Faculty, And Employers On A General Education Program In Vietnam, Cuong Sy Do

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Vietnam’s higher education institutions have been criticized for producing graduates who are lacking skills required by employers. To address this criticism, the general education program at a university in Vietnam aims to build the broad knowledge and skills. However, it was unknown if students, faculty, and employers perceived the program to adequately provide students with broad knowledge and skills. The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to investigate the perceptions of students, faculty, and employers about whether the general education program was providing students with broad knowledge and skills needed for career success. The theoretical foundation for this …

Parents' Perceptions Of And Reactions To Their Child's Intergroup Marriage, Theresa Aikens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that parental support and acceptance are integral to the success of interracial romantic relationships (IRRs) and well-being of interracial romantic relationship participants (IRRPs). Research on couples involved in IRRs is prevalent, but researchers neglected to include the perspectives of the parents of the IRRPs. The lived experiences of parents of adult children involved in Black-White IRRs and their perceptions of societal reactions to the IRR were explored to better understand the mechanisms behind parental support or disapproval of IRRs. Bronfenbrenner's PPCT model of bioecological theory allowed for a focus on a parent's development within the parent-child relationship …

Nonprofit Strategies For Alternative Revenue Generation And Sustainability, Aretha Lepearl Day

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the post-2008 Great Recession era of a highly volatile global business environment of increased competitiveness, diminishing predictable revenues, and depleting philanthropy, many nonprofit leaders struggle to sustain their organizations. Volatility is important to nonprofit leaders because such fluctuations create unpredictability, which threatens their organizations' financial stability for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. Grounded in Elkington's triple bottom line conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore nonprofit leaders' strategies for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. The participants comprised 3 senior leaders in a nonprofit located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who …

Considering Educators’ Perceptions Of Ethics And Safety In Virtual Learning Environments (Vles), Patricia B. Steele, Cheryl Burleigh, Elizabeth A. Young

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

With the proliferation of students’ abilities to use technology, in particular virtual reality (VR) applications, teachers are experimenting with VR in virtual learning environments (VLE) to engage students; but clear ethics and safety guidelines are not available. Within the field of education additional research is needed to determine how VR is employed in VLEs. Additionally, what are the decision-making processes of educators for the VR programs chosen for classroom use based on ethics and student safety? Through qualitative inquiry, educators from K–12 and higher education shared their perceptions of ethics and safety concerns in VR applications for use in the …

Digital Colleague Connectedness: A Framework For Studying Teachers’ Professional Network Interactions, Darci J. Harland

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The coronavirus outbreak will likely highlight both strengths and weaknesses of the pre-corona educational system. Researchers have a responsibility to examine the experiences educators have had during the pandemic; however, there are no education-specific frameworks for researchers to use to examine teachers interacting with digital colleagues for professional purposes. This paper describes the literature used to design the digital colleague connectedness framework. The purpose of the framework is to operationalize terminology used to examine educators interacting in professional exchanges within a virtual network. This framework includes six behaviors in which digital colleagues engage and four roles they may assume that …

Division Ii Football Players’ Perceptions Of Ncaa And Finding Balance Between Athletics And Education, Morgan Lehman

Walden University Research Conference

Mandates and regulations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have caused extreme reforms to take effect in the NCAA’s education system. However, little is known about how these reforms have impacted student-athletes. The purpose of this study was to explore how Division II football players from public colleges and universities view their ability to balance their education and athletics. Findings revealed participants’ limited understanding of NCAA rules and a need for more clearly defined and standard policies. Findings may help create legislation to involve the federal government in overseeing NCAA policies to support the educational needs of student-athletes.

Recommended …

American Indian Cooking Self-Efficacy And Health Perceptions Of Obesity, Kristina L. Babbitt

Walden University Research Conference

American Indian obesity rates exceed other ethnicities. This cross-sectional study examined cooking techniques and meal preparation self-efficacy (CTMP), negative cooking attitude, eating and cooking with fruits and vegetables self-efficacy, health value, and perceived severity, susceptibility, barriers, and benefits on body mass index (BMI) for 90 Arizona American Indians. Participants self-reported height and weight and completed the Cooking with a Chef Evaluation Instrument and Health Belief Model Scale in Obesity. Multiple regression revealed a significant large effect of all predictors and small effect of health value and CTMP on BMI. The findings indicate self-efficacy and health perceptions impact BMI and health …

Insidious Trauma, Heteronormative Steeping, And Help-Seeking: Exploring The Rural Non-Heterosexual Experience, Jennifer Towns

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Non-heterosexual (NH) individuals are often exposed to stressors based on their non-heterosexual status and, therefore, may have unique needs related to help-seeking for mental health, especially in rural areas where residents are more likely to identify as religious or conservative, groups that have historically been opposed to NH individuals. This study was completed to explore the lives of 10 non-heterosexual individuals in rural northern Michigan related to their daily encounters with minority stress and their experiences with help-seeking for mental health symptomology. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted, and transcriptions were analyzed to identify the occurrence of traumatic experiences at a …

Examining Community Resilience In The Disaster-Prone City Of Conway, Sc, Lamesha L. Craft

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Social science research on disaster-prone communities often cites social capital and community resilience to examine methods for improving emergency management and disaster risk reduction. The City of Conway, South Carolina, is susceptible to numerous natural disasters throughout the year and it has sustained damage from four major flooding disasters since 2015. This qualitative, ethnographic case study used interview data collected from nine Conway residents to examine and analyze perceived threats to citizens of Conway following a large-scale natural disaster and the possible responses by citizens in need of government assistance. Findings reveal that participants have endured more than one large-scale …

Social Media Marketing Adoption Strategies: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study Of Landscape Industry Small Businesses, Crystal Lupo, Jason R. Stroman

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Despite research contending that marketing is a pivotal factor in small business success, many small business owners continue to underutilize low-cost marketing options available to them. Of these options, social media marketing is a useful tool to maintain competitiveness in the larger marketplace. However, the adoption of social media best practices in small business remains deficient. The landscape industry is a large and growing field with small businesses making up a large and growing share of the industry. Yet some landscape industry small business owners lack strategies to adopt innovative social media marketing strategies to help ensure business viability. This …

Quality Assurance Of Higher Education Governance And Management: An Exploration Of The Minimum Imperative For The Envisioned African Common Higher Education Space, Lazarus Nabaho, Wilberforce Turyasingura, Alfred Kenneth Kiiza, Felix Andama, Adrian Beinebyabo

Higher Learning Research Communications

In 2018, as part of the African higher education harmonisation drive, the African Union Commission (AUC) issued the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASG-QA). Within the ASG-QA, the AUC commits to promoting good governance and management in higher education institutions and provides governance and management as the second standard. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about the governance and management architecture for higher education institutions in the African higher education landscape that is either implicit or explicit in the ASG-QA. Against the above backdrop—using the ASG-QA as a source of data and content analysis …

Obesity In Thurston County Washington, Sheaunna Guary

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Thurston County Washington is experiencing a steady increase in the rates of adult obesity within our community. Obesity can have a negative impact on the mental, physical, and financial health of individuals and the county at large (Pul & Suh, 2015). As such, the author proposes addressing this community issue through a social change project that contains both preventative measures as well as postvention efforts to address and decrease rates of obesity in Thurston County Washington.

Human Trafficking And Gender Inequality In Remote Communities Of Central Vietnam, Bich Ngoc Nguyen, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Human trafficking crime is rising globally at an alarming rate. Vietnam has one of the highest prevalence of trafficking female victims for forced sex and marriages and of girls abandoning school for unskilled work. In this study, we explored human trafficking awareness in remote communities of central Vietnam and the factors for young girls leaving school for work at an early age. The study also investigated a link between gender inequality and child labor. Gender inequality and vulnerability theories provided theoretical constructs and context for face-to-face interviews with 19 villagers, mothers of the child labor victims, teachers, human services workers, …

Mission Unaccomplished: Beyond “Talk[Ing] A Good Game” To Promote Diversity And Inclusion, Tara Lehan, Heather Hussey, Ashley Babcock

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Guided by feminist standpoint theory and scholars’ calls to move beyond merely counting individuals to understand the extent to which higher education institutions are diverse, the authors invited faculty members, staff members, and administrators from minoritized groups to describe their perceptions and experiences, including those associated with diversity and inclusion efforts at their institutions. In association with various dynamics, these individuals frequently described such initiatives as mostly talk with little to no meaningful objectives and outcomes. Based on these findings, we provide a three-step process that can be followed to disrupt and dismantle systems of (dis)advantage to promote greater diversity …

Medical And Mental Health Comorbidities Among Minority Racial/Ethnic Groups In The United States, Naheed Ahmed, C. Andrew Conway

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Objective. To examine the prevalence of and the association between comorbid disorders and race/ethnicity in the United States.

Methods. Using cross-sectional data from the 2012 National Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [N=45,207,844], we examined comorbidity of psychological distress with self-reported diagnosis of diabetes, angina, and with history of heart attack and stroke. Logistic regression was used to examine between group differences by race/ethnicity.

Results. Unadjusted results indicate that American Indian [OR 4.01, 95%CI: 1.78, 9.04] and Hispanic [OR 1.55, 95%CI: 1.04, 2.33] participants were more likely to have psychological distress and history of heart attack in comparison …

Factors Potentially Influencing Discipline Referral And Suspensions At An Affiliated Charter High School, Debra Bryant, Andrea Wilson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This article addresses long-standing data from federal government agencies documenting concerns regarding the use of school discipline and suspension indicating that Black students are referred for discipline and/or suspended at a higher rate than students of other ethnicities. Available data from a local school district reflected similar troubling patterns of discipline referral and suspension. The purpose of this study was to determine if variables such as students’ ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender predicted the likelihood of receiving discipline referrals or being suspended at an affiliated charter high school in a local school district. Guided by Bandura’s social learning theory and …

Exploring Diversity Management In Transnational Corporations Through The Lens Of Migration And Expatriation, Kingsley U. Utam, Uduak Archibong, Sean Walton, Cyril Eshareturi

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

In this study, we aim to develop an understanding of the similarity between migration and expatriation, identify both as elements in diversity, and draw attention to the additional layer of ethnic diversity created by the high number of top management expatriates in some Nigerian subsidiaries of transnational corporations. Using the qualitative research design, we thematically analysed data from semistructured interviews with six indigenous managers in four transnational corporations. We found a significant number of expatriate managers in two subsidiaries and a lack of diversity management framework to address the new layer of diversity as reflected in the unequal treatment of …

Different Caregiver, Different Collaboration, Helle Rønn-Smidt, Janet K. Shim, Amber Fitzsimmons, Kristian Larsen, Hanne Pallesen

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The quality of the collaboration between health professionals and caregivers is of great significance to outcome and recovery. Severe brain injuries after a stroke can leave patients unable to communicate their needs and wishes with health professionals, in which case the role of the caregiver(s) becomes even more important. This position is highly differentiated, and there are substantial variations in how caregivers participate in the collaboration. Using the Bourdieusian concept of cultural health capital, we aimed to develop a broader understanding of the role played by the patient’s caregiver and how inequality is produced in the encounter with professionals. This …

Relationships Among Annual Revenue And Green Initiatives, Quality Management, And Organizational Performance, Yun-Chen Morgan, Lillian Y. Fok, Susan M. L. Zee

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Today’s global awareness of environmental risks and the pressing needs to compete through efficiency have led to stronger initiatives in the green movement across industries. We examine organizations’ annual revenue levels and their connections to organizational green orientation and impact, quality management programs, and employee perceptions of cultural practices and organizational performance. Results indicate high-revenue organizations use quality management tools more extensively with greater green impact and low-revenue organizations have a more informal and decentralized organizational culture

Health Behaviors In The Service Sector: Substance Use Among Restaurant Employees, Amanda Michiko Shigihara

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Restaurant workers in the United States exhibit high levels of alcohol and drug use. However, there is a scant amount of qualitative research uncovering how and why restaurant employees use and abuse legal and illegal substances. Examining restaurant workers’ self-reported risky health behaviors is important for improving employee and occupational quality of life. The purpose of this article is to investigate the health behaviors of restaurant workers and pathways to such outcomes. Specifically, this article explores the question of what social conditions and processes within restaurants relate to employee adverse health behaviors. Drawing on qualitative data collected between 2009 and …

Prek–5 Teacher Views Of Professional Development Integrating Common Core Language Arts With Science And Social Studies, Janie Hubbard, Melisa Fowler, Lee Freeman

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Three preK–6 U.S. university methods instructors-researchers (literacy, science, social studies) joined 17 Title I school teachers for collaborative lesson planning and teaching within the preK–5 school setting. Each team’s goal was to create and teach interdisciplinary curriculum units using U.S. English language arts Common Core State Standards with social studies and science. A year-long instrumental case study design was used to examine (a) how teachers perceived collaborative professional development to create interdisciplinary unit plans and (b) how teachers viewed outcomes of teaching interdisciplinary units of their own design. Practice articles regarding Common Core State Standards curricula integration are plentiful; however, …

Traumatic Early Life Stress In The Developing Hippocampus: A Meta-Analysis Of Mri Studies, Sharon Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advancements in neuroimaging techniques afford researchers the opportunity to examine the actual brains of living persons, which exponentially contributes to new insights regarding brain and behavior phenomena. However, empirical studies investigating stress and the hippocampus attend primarily to adult populations - less on children and adolescents. Covariates such as the type of trauma, the duration and severity of the abuse, genetic predispositions, gender, poverty, and age often present as confounding factors that muddle the attempts to establish linkages between interpersonal, environmental, and neurobiological correlates. Although researchers primarily agree that traumatic early life stress (TELS) has some impact on early brain …

Child Agency: Adolescents-Led Community Service Initiatives In Yemen, Shaima Mohammed Alraiy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has provided evidence that child participation and agency can contribute to child protection. Child participation and agency in the context of war and conflicts are still under-researched. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the agency experiences of adolescents in Yemen in implementing and leading community service initiatives following participating in a youth empowerment program. Using Zimmerman’s empowerment theory to guide the study, 5 people aged between 18 and 22 years who had participated in a program were interviewed about their agency experience when they were adolescents. Narrative data was analyzed using thematic analysis and …

Predictive Factors Of Determinants Of Health And Services Provided At Adult Day Service Centers, Nardia Anthonalla Aldridge

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The National Association of Adult Day Service Centers has suggested that adult day service centers can provide services to meet the complex needs of the older adult and delay nursing home placement. Researchers have yet been able to establish the predictive nature of determinants of health in Adult Day Care Centers (ADSCs). The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between the determinants of health and the presence of therapeutic services and nursing services at ADSCs. The open system theory guided this study. Data sets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016 Adult Day Services …

Oligarchic Cartelization In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Bonifasius -. Hargens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A few ruling individuals from party organizations overpowered Indonesia‘s post-authoritarian, representative democracy. The legislative process of the 2017 Election Act was the case study employed to examine this assumption. The underlying thinking was that there was a contest between ―wealth power‖ (oligarchy) and ―participation power‖ (democracy). The power of wealth controls the party and government institutions. Notwithstanding the presence of participation power, there was, however, no balance between wealth power and participation power, because the formal control of politics was in the hands of party oligarchs. The study purpose was to bridge the gap in knowledge by exploring how the …

Self Reported Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Deaf Users: A Communication Barrier, Dr. Jolene Ayres Ogunjirin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of mortality worldwide, and may disproportionately affect the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHOH) subpopulation in the United States. It has been suggested that communication barriers among the DHOH subpopulation contribute to the high prevalence of CVD risk factors. To assess this claim, this quantitative study utilized a cross-sectional data set of 400 DHOH and 400 non- DHOH participants taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. The differences of being told by a health professional of having specific CVD risk factors were assessed between the two groups and …

An Exploration Of Experiences Of Parents With Dependent Adult Children Expressed In Social Media, Lanora Lynn Elliston-Gittings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many young adults lack independence and parents are supporting their children in into adulthood. There are parents who feel frustrated, taken for granted, and alone while providing for their dependent children. A lack of resources led a population of parents to find support through private social media groups. No research that examined the perception of the experiences of parents of dependent adults and the perceived benefits of online resources was found. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to understand the parenting experiences of those who chose to join a private social media group and fill the literature gap …

Administrators' Experiences Implementing Veterans Housing Units In U.S. Correctional Institutions, Lori J. Riedel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a higher rate of recidivism for U.S. veterans compared to the general population of offenders. To address the unique needs of veterans, separate housing units for veterans (VSUs) are now operating within correctional facilities in 29 U.S. states. Despite reports that VSUs are having a positive impact on recidivism, little is known of the experiences of correctional administrators who have implemented a VSU. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of several individuals who have implemented a VSU in their correctional facility. Guided by the quality implementation framework (QIF), data collected through …