Digital Commons Network^™

Addressing Needs Of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors In The Emergency Department, Claudia F. Schenk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence is a global epidemic and public health concern, including in the United States. The purpose of this descriptive, exploratory, nonexperimental, quantitative study was to determine to what extent intimate partner violence survivors avail themselves of offered resources and interventions in health care settings. The general systems foundation was used for the study's theoretical foundation. The research questions ascertained the proportion of intimate partner violence survivors who accepted mental health, law enforcement, and community outreach resources; the level of comprehensive intervention they received; and the associations, if any, between types of services. Retrospective data were collected from121 medical …

Strategic Lay Leadership Involvement In The Social Mission Of A Western Ontario Denomination, Isaac Osei-Akoto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several Ontario communities face challenges requiring harnessing multisectorial partnerships to bring about community transformation. The church has the capacity to contribute to the community transformation needs of its community, but a particular denomination in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) appeared to be unaware of how to fulfil its social mission of community transformation. The purpose of this case study was to understand how members of the clergy perceived the lay leadership vacuum in the denomination and how these perceptions appear to inhibit the denomination's achievement of its social mission. The theoretical framework was Akingbola's strategic nonprofit human resource management theory. …

Motivations To Return To A Gang After Severe Physical Victimization, Nora Vlaszof

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Gang violence is a social concern because of the risks of victimization among gang members and their communities. Many gang members have been victims of gang violence, and some choose to remain involved with their gang even after being victimized. Researchers have explored why people join gangs, but less is known regarding the gang-victimization link, which is the focus of this study. Social bond theory guided the study's research question on the motivation of gang members to rejoin their gang after severe physical victimization. A multiple case study design was employed with a purposeful sample of six English-speaking men, …

Happiness Index Methodology, Laura Musikanski, Scott Cloutier, Erica Bejarano, Davi Briggs, Julia Colbert, Gracie Strasser, Steven Russell

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The Happiness Index is a comprehensive survey instrument that assesses happiness, well-being, and aspects of sustainability and resilience. The Happiness Alliance developed the Happiness Index to provide a survey instrument to community organizers, researchers, and others seeking to use a subjective well-being index and data. It is the only instrument of its kind freely available worldwide and translated into over ten languages. This instrument can be used to measure satisfaction with life and the conditions of life. It can also be used to define income inequality, trust in government, sense of community and other aspects of well-being within specific demographics …

Social Change Through Entrepreneurship: Utilizing Portable Sawmill Based Small Businesses To Promote Community Development, Crystal Lupo

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Reduced demand for wood and wood products resulting from the economic crisis in the first decade of the 2000s severely impacted the forest industry throughout the world, causing large forest-based organizations to close (CBC News, 2008; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009; Pepke, 2009). The result was a dramatic increase in unemployment and worker displacement among forest product workers between 2011 and 2013 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). Forested rural communities often depended on the large-scale forest industry for their livelihood, and as a result, decreased reliance on large-scale industry became increasingly important (Lupo, 2015). This article …

Multifamily Subsidized Housing Seniors' Awareness Of Aging And Disability Resource Center Services, Katrina Polk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 75% of adults 60 years of age or older who live in Washington, D.C. are unaware of access to Aging and Disability Resource Centers' (ADRC) community-based services. Approximately 25% of these individuals are low-income and reside in multifamily subsidized housing. With a theoretical basis in Penchansky and Thomas' construct of access, this phenomenological study explored whether increased awareness of access to ADRC service delivery may potentially better meet the needs of this socioeconomically marginalized population. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 senior citizens in Washington, D.C. who received some programmatic assistance, such as housing or meal delivery, …

Improving Undergraduate Student Retention At A Midwestern University, Christine Tracy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student retention in higher education has become a national problem. At a small midwestern university, the retention rate has been declining, and the freshman to sophomore retention rate was 64% in 2013. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to investigate ways to improve student retention. Tinto's theory of integration was used to explore the students' and administrators' perceptions of the factors that contribute to poor student retention to graduation. This study analyzed 519 student exit-forms from 2012-2015, 6 semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 10 administrators, and an analysis of university archival data. A thematic analysis of …

Exploring Strategies For Implementing Data Governance Practices, Ashley Cave

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Data governance reaches across the field of information technology and is increasingly important for big data efforts, regulatory compliance, and ensuring data integrity. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies for implementing data governance practices. This study was guided by institutional theory as the conceptual framework. The study's population consisted of informatics specialists from a small hospital, which is also a research institution in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. This study's data collection included semi structured, in-depth individual interviews (n = 10), focus groups (n = 3), and the analysis of organizational documents (n = 19). …

History Teachers' Perspectives Of Time Constraints, Engagement, And Relevance In The Curriculum, Christy Mimie Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the last 20 years, many state school administrators have reduced social studies instructional time in favor of time dedicated to reading or math skills due to the pressure of standardized testing. The purpose of this qualitative case study, which was based on constructivist theories about learning and schema theory, was to analyze teachers' perspectives on teaching history lessons, in terms of engagement and relevance, while working within new time constraints. Purposeful sampling was used to select 6 teachers for interviews; all had experience teaching social studies courses at the upper elementary and middle levels in a public school district …

Perceptions Of Ingratiation From The Perspective Of Retired Air Force Leaders, Kevin C. Dunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ingratiation is a deceptive, psychological tactic subordinates use to convince their supervisors to treat them better than other subordinates. Subordinate ingratiation is relatively well-known, but the concept of a manager promoting and encouraging ingratiative behaviors to subordinates is less common and seen as uncommonly deceptive. Little is known about how managers feel about ingratiation why any manager would encourage it. The purpose of this study was to explore how people in management positions percieve manager-encouraged ingratiation. Research questions addressed how people in management positions might respond to a scenario wherein a manager encouraged a subordinate employee to act out ingratiation. …

Clergy Academic Management Training In Non-Denominational Faith-Based Organizations, Patricia Anne Jenks-Greene

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is little research about how clerics manage and lead small to midsized non-denominational nonprofit organizations. The rate of clergy failures in non-denominational organizations has left many questions about what is needed to create organizational success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of clergy manager-leaders' management training in non-denominational organizations. Fourteen full-time clerics from Bloomingdale, Georgia, Rincon, Georgia, and Savannah, Georgia participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The data analysis process involved the use of Edward and Welch's extension of Colaizzi's data analysis procedures, which resulted in the emergence of 4 themes. …

The Intersection Of Race, Gender And The School To Prison Pipeline: A Case Study On The Impact Of Exclusionary Discipline On African American Girls, Karen Nicole Wallace

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Exclusionary discipline in school contributes to gender and racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system and marginalizes African American girls. Using the social justice and rational choice theories as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to explore the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes contribute to the overrepresentation of the school to prison pipeline in Virginia. The central research question focused on the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes on the overrepresentation of African American girls in the school to prison pipeline. Employing …

An Inquiry Into Factors Of Leadership And Cohesion In Complex Teams, Jeffrey White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The external competitive environments and internal group dynamics of organizations are increasing in complexity resulting in new challenges for organizational leaders to improve performance in underperforming teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address what factors led to high-innovation outcomes in complex adaptive systems using a framework constructed from elements of complexity leadership theory and group dynamics research. An in-depth interviewing approach was used to collect data on the lived experience and meaning the participants attributed to their experiences regarding improved team performance. A total of 21 participants were selected from multiple business settings where their team experienced …

Teamwork Perceptions Of Nurses And Nursing Assistants In A Community Hospital, Iwona Halina Enzinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teamwork in healthcare is recognized as a significant factor in achieving patient safety and impacting patient outcomes. Despite the general focus on teamwork in healthcare, there has been little research on teamwork among nurses and nursing assistants working on patient care units. The purpose of this doctoral project was to identify, compare, and analyze perceptions of teamwork in a group of nurses and nursing assistants in a community hospital setting where the TeamSTEPPS program has been implemented. The framework of this project was the concept of shared mental model and Imogene King's conceptual system and middle-range theory of goal attainment. …

Mobile Collaborative Learning For Female Baby Boomer Students In Canadian Higher Education, Holly Cp Chun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female baby boomer students (born 1946-1964) need to augment their skills in mobile collaborative learning because current knowledge of technologies is essential for making informed decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine the need to promote technologies based on the experiences of female baby boomer students. Andragogy and constructivism provided the conceptual framework for this research. The research questions were devised to investigate female boomer students' collaborative experiences using smart devices and barriers to their adoption of technology. This phenomenological study included 8 participants from a Canadian university recruited through purposeful sampling. Per the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, data …

Reducing Health Disparities In African American Communities Through Church And Federal Partnerships, Shelia Lassiter Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified persistent disparities in health care resources as the primary causes of mortality among minority populations. An underexplored resource for affected African American populations is the church, which is not a recognized stakeholder in the implementation of current health care policy. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to gather perspectives from African American parishioners who lacked sufficient health care insurance on the roles the church could play. Qualitative data management software was used to organize the data …

Strategies To Overcome The Nursing Shortage, Edward A. Mehdaova

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nursing shortage is a growing problem in the healthcare industry as hospital leaders are experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining nurses. Guided by the PESTEL framework theory, the purpose of this case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders use to overcome a nursing shortage. Participants were 5 healthcare leaders who have the knowledge and experience in recruitment and retention of registered nurses in a healthcare facility in Seattle, Washington. Data were collected through audio-recorded semistructured interviews and document review of the Hospital Employee Education and Training Program. Data analysis consisted of documenting the data, organizing and categorizing the data, connecting …

Customer Relationship Management Strategies At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Johnny Balman Mcdonald

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically Black colleges and university managers lack sufficient understanding of customer-relationship management strategies to create high enrollment rates leading to increased financial stability. The focus of this qualitative single case study was to explore customer-relationship management strategies managers use to improve financial performance from historically Black colleges and universities located within the state of Georgia with a student enrollment that exceeds 2,000 students. The conceptual framework for this study was the general system theory. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and employee handbooks. The data analysis consisted of compiling the data, disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data …

Medical Floor Confusion Assessment Method: Implementation And Assessment Of Risk Factors, Michaelynn R. Paul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An estimated 50% of older hospitalized patients experience delirium. This has created significant complications costing an estimated $164 billion or more per year worldwide. The ability to identify patients developing delirium would allow the implementation of specific interventions to decrease or eliminate the adverse effects of delirium. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to provide high quality delirium education to determine if medical unit nursing staff could successful implement the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) screening tool to identify patients experiencing delirium as the first phase of an overall plan. Implementation of the project followed Roger's diffusion of innovations …

Exploring Strategies For Successful Implementation Of Electronic Health Records, Richard Alton Warren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems in nonfederal acute care hospitals has increased, with adoption rates across the United States reaching as high as 94%. Of the 330 plus acute care hospital EHR implementations in Texas, only 31% have completed attestation to Stage 2 of the meaningful use (MU) criteria. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that hospital chief information officers (CIOs) used for the successful implementation of EHR. The target population consists of 3 hospitals CIOs from a multi-county region in North Central Texas who successfully implemented EHRs meeting Stage 2 MU criteria. …

Effective Strategies Of Military Veteran Small Business Owners, John F. Groves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses owned by military veterans represent a source of new jobs, yet more than half of these businesses fail to survive beyond 5 years. These failures could lead to efforts to identify strategies that owners can use to avoid failure. The conceptual framework applied in this case study was the triple-loop learning theory. The purposive sampling included 7 military veterans who were small business owners who had sustained their small businesses more than 5 years. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and organization documents. Yin's 5-step process for data analysis compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding resulted in 4 …

Effectiveness Of Hands-On Pedagogy In Stem Education, John Kyere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the low enrollment in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at the high school and college levels, administrators at the local school district have been struggling to improve elementary school students' performance in math and science. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the STEM program using hands-on instruction facilitated by professional development (PD) activities. Guided by Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky' constructivism theory, the qualitative program evaluation using the research questions examined the success of the STEM program using a hands-on instructional approach and the PD support that teachers need to be …

Strategies To Teach Customer Service Skills, James Francis Ortman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business managers' failure to retain dissatisfied customers leads to millions of dollars in lost revenue. The purpose of this single case study was to explore managers' training strategies to teach sales associates customer service skills. The sample included 3 training managers from the mobile phone industry in Michigan who recorded a 25 % increase in customer retention after implementing customer service training. The conceptual framework for this study was human capital theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and training documents. Data analysis entailed using coding techniques and cluster analysis. Member checking applied to clarify the interpretation of participants' responses …

Recidivism: An Analysis Of Race, Locus Of Control, And Resilience, Danisha Latrell Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recidivism is a growing problem in the United States that has contributed to prison overcrowding. In the United States, this is especially true for minorities, who have the highest incarceration, conviction, and recidivism rates. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the relationship between race, recidivism, locus of control, and resilience. For the quantitative component, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC) and the multidimensional locus of control scales were used to measure resiliency and locus of control differences among racial groups (N = 126) on parole at a Fort Worth, Texas parole office. For the qualitative component, in-depth …

The Psychological Impact Of Taser Utilization In Police Officers, Yolanda Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A substantial body of scientific and medical research has examined the relationship between conductive energy devices and their physical risk to humans. This phenomenological study focused on the psychological impact of Taser utilization in police officers. This research explored how the experience of using a Taser in the line of duty affected officers from the conceptual framework of stress inoculation training and its applicability to Taser certification; the typical mental processes associated with using less-lethal weapons, perceptions of Taser training; and, the preparation provided in training for citizen injuries and deaths. Fifteen officers who had deployed a Taser were included …

Foster Parents' Attachment Style As A Moderator Of Children's Negative Behaviors And Placement Disruption, Alicia Araiza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a demonstrated association between children's negative behaviors, placement disruption, and foster parents' attachment style in early childhood; however, there is an absence of research examining this relation among foster children in middle childhood. Researchers have found that in early childhood, children respond more favorably to foster parents with a secure attachment style, while greater placement disruption is associated with foster parents having an insecure attachment style. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between foster children's negative behaviors, placement disruption in foster children during middle childhood, and foster parents' attachment style. Bowlby's and Ainsworth's attachment …

Exploring Social Support Networks Of African American Emancipated Foster Care Women, Donna Marie Barrett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many youth exit the United States foster care system each year and face challenges related to housing, employment, health care, and education. After emancipation, foster youth can experience family instability, educational disruption, incarceration, unemployment, unstable housing, and emotional problems at a much higher rate than youth in the general population. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the experiences of African American foster women and the social support they received in finding housing upon exiting foster care system. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory provided a conceptual framework of social interrelation for the study. Data were collected from a purposeful …

The Impact Of Parental Divorce On Orthodox Jewish Marital Relationships, Eliyahu Melen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While there is ample research showing that adult children of divorced parents have more positive attitudes toward divorce and lower marital commitment, there has been no such research focused specifically on the Orthodox Jewish (OJ) population, which tends to view divorce more negatively. Prior to this study, it was thus unclear if the findings of existing research on marital competence applied to OJ children of divorce. Driven by social exchange theory, this study was designed to discover (a) whether OJ adult children of divorce differ significantly from OJ adult children of intact marriages in their marital commitment and marital satisfaction; …

Age As A Predictor Of Factors Involved In Targeted School Violence, Wendy Leigh Rippon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Targeted school violence (TSV) in the United States is increasing, causing a loss of innocent lives and challenges for teachers and students in building rapport. In addition, TSV increases levels of anxiety and makes it difficult for parents and community members to believe students are safe while at school. Several studies have highlighted the fact that age may be a factor in school shootings, calling for future research to determine if age is indeed influential. The problem is to date age has not been established as a predictive factor, even though the extant research is beginning to identify possible variances. …

Perceptions Of Educational Accountability Among Single African American Mothers, Tierra Winston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The construct of educational accountability formally originated in 2001 as a means to improve education standards by holding teachers accountable for student academic progress; however, the definition of educational accountability for parents continues to be illusive. The purpose of this generic, qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of educational accountability among single, African American mothers of high school-aged children. The research question asked about how the beliefs of educational accountability among single African American mothers related to any involvement in their children's education. Azjen's theory of planned behavior, which outlines the relation of intention to action, was the framework …