Digital Commons Network^™

Question Block Order Effects In A Telephone Survey, Peter Montague Meyers

Masters Theses

Question order effects in a repetitive questionnaire was the focus of the study. A dataset was constructed based on results involving seven different organizations where the institutions were rotated into seven different blocked placements to test for order effects. This analysis used the Arts and Culture Survey conducted by the Kercher Center for Social Research at Western Michigan University in 1994.

Comparisons of means were used to determine whether fatigue from question repetitiveness affected respondents when responding to questions with fixed response questions, multiple responses, "don't know" responses, and open-ended responses. The issue of popularity was also examined to see …

Patterns Of "I Don't Know" Responses In Telephone Surveys, Christine Lewerenz Hinkle

Masters Theses

The question of how best to handle "don't know" responses continues to be a troublesome problem to survey researchers. There are no guidelines for handling "don't know" responses because little systematic investigation for the problem has been made. This research addresses the characteristics of those who answer "don't know" in social surveys. I am focusing on four independent variables, sex, age, income, and education. Included in this research will also be an independent variable of interviewer gender. The fact that most survey research does not record the sex of the interviewer has caused this research to be somewhat limited. I …

Planning For Change: Feminist Standpoint Epistemology Informing The Program Planning Process, Laura Nichols

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the process by which social programs are developed and explores how feminist standpoint epistemology may inform the process. A peer education program developed for college women is used as an example to illustrate the planning process. Secondary data collection, focus groups and a self-administered survey were the research techniques utilized in this planning approach.

The specific steps involved in program planning are identified and explained based on the program planning process presented and literature about this topic. The thesis concludes by exploring how certain ideas in feminist standpoint epistemology can be applied to the planning process in …

Right Of Privacy: Origin And Evolution Of A Constitutional Right, Eugene W. Smith

Masters Theses

This paper investigates the historical and legal question of how the Supreme Court developed the constitutional right of privacy from the Civil War Amendments to the Constitution. The emphasis is on tracing the Court's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment since the Civil War.

Primary sources consulted included the Constitution, statutes, government publications, court opinions, briefs and other parts of case records. Newspapers, periodicals and books were used to trace more recent developments.

The paper traces the Court's use of the legal doctrines of substantive due process, selective incorporation and the new equal protection to first create a right of family …

The Level Of Management Support Behaviors And The Effect On Participation Rates In Corporate Fitness Programs, Diane Braatz

Dissertations

Survey methods were used to evaluate the relationship between the nature and degree of management support provided to corporate fitness programs and employees' participation rates in those programs. A questionnaire requesting information about demographics, participation rates, and supportive management practices in the areas of coaching, modeling, and reinforcing, was sent to representatives of 400 companies. Completed questionnaires representing 157 organizations were returned. Across all respondents, the mean reported level of employee participation in fitness programs was 20.7%; the range was 2 to 67%. The level of employee participation was positively related to the total level of management support (i.e., combined …

Western News, July 27, 1995, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story Highlights: Elliott replaces Meinert as Bronco athletic director, Students get head start at summer academy, $200,000 grant to help make research more relevantfor educators, Photo-ill card can be used for financial transactions beginning this fall, Two win award for efforts on national team

Western News, July 13, 1995, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story Highlights: Transfer program wins national award, WMU finishes in top 10 of solar race, Paavola selected for post in WMU News Services, VanDenBerg named associate registrar, Writing program grows to include students as well as teachers

Western News, June 29, 1995, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story Highlights: WMU to receive largest percentage increase in appropriation, Board holds tuition increase to 2.6 percent; figure is lowest among state public institutions, Retired Kellogg exec to advise the president

Western News, June 15,1995, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story Highlights: 7.8 percent appropriation increase intact as Legislature hammers out final budget bill, Four win Fulbright grants for work and study abroad, Students hope to be beaming all the way from Indiana to Colorado in biennial solar car race, Students get taste of college life through KCP Program, Rodeo, science program set for this weekend, Media tap Earhart's expertise on Japanese religions, Robertson pens text on integrative approach to psychotherapy for students and faculty

Western News, June 1,1995, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story Highlights: Top students selected for $25,000 Medallion Scholarships, Education, government, industry representatives here June 2-3 for international trade conference, Classes of '45, '50 and '55 gather for Reunion Weekend, WMU faculty and students to join with others in observing first local medical research day, WMU researchers on educational reform selected to evaluate NSF project in Vermont

Citizens' Attitudes Toward Baraga And L'Anse Schools Sharing Resources And Consolidation In Two Community Attitude Surveys: A Five-Year Comparison, Anni C. Gregor

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine the relationship between respondents' data to six replicated education questions embedded in two community attitude surveys conducted in 1988 and 1993 in Baraga County, Michigan. The six questions were proposed to determine respondents' attitudes toward Baraga and L'Anse schools' sharing of educational curriculum, extracurricular activities, school calendars, staff, transportation, and consolidation of the two school districts. Demographic data in the two studies were cited to compare respondents' personal history and other demographic data between 1988 and 1993.

In the two studies, a total of 845 randomly selected subjects responded to six questions …

Classroom Personalities Of Effective Teachers Within A Technical College Setting, Fred Manley

Dissertations

This study used student ratings to examine relationships between instructor personality and teaching effectiveness for technical college faculty. Research was specifically conducted to address three questions: (1) what personality traits are associated with effective teaching, (2) do the personality profiles of effective teachers differ by academic area, and (3) are there personality dimensions that distinguish above average from below-average instructors.

Students enrolled in classes taught by instructors randomly selected from the accounting, computer information systems, marketing, and office occupations departments at five Wisconsin technical colleges rated their instructors on 29 personality traits and 18 teaching behaviors. Pearson product-moment correlations were …

Religious Fundamentalism In Indian Politics, Linda Elder

Masters Theses

The Hindu nationalist movement, known as "Hindutva," which originated during the British colonial period in India, manifests itself in Indian politics today in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.). Its affiliates, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, V.H.P. consisting of Hindu priests and sadhus, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, R. S.S., a paramilitary organization, form the core of this party. As the organized militant arm of Hindutva, the R.S.S. is compared to other religious fundamentalist organizations worldwide, based on characteristics provided by Martin Marty and R. Scott Appleby in the Fundamentalist Research Project at the University of Chicago.

Since 1977 …

Social Work In The Netherlands: Current Developments. Karl-Ernst Hesser And Wibo Koole.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Karl-Ernst Hesser and Wibo Koole (Eds.), Social Work in the Netherlands: Current Developments, Utrecht, Netherlands: SWP Publishing Co., 1994. $19.00 papercover (Available from SWP Publishing, P. 0. Box 578, NL-3500 Utrecht, The Netherlands).

The Effect Of Music Therapy On The Perceived Quality Of Life Of Patients With Terminal Illness In A Hospice Setting, Caroline Marie Abbott

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to determine if there were any significant differences in perceived mood states between patients in hospice care who received music therapy services and patients in hospice care who did not receive music therapy services.

Twenty-eight participants were surveyed using the Profile of Mood States (short form). Fourteen participants received music therapy services for a minimum of five hours, and fourteen participants did not receive music therapy services. The participants were matched in pairs by gender, location, diagnosis, and age, and were patients in one of three hospice locations in the United States which agreed …

Review Of Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Has Abandoned Its Mission Harry Specht And Mark Courtney. Reviewed By Jeanne Marsh, University Of Chicago., Jeanne Marsh

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Harry Specht and Mark Courtney, Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Has Abandoned its Mission, New York: Free Press, 1994. $24.95 hardcover.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 22, No. 2 (June 1995)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• FEMINIZATION OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC - Mark S. Kaplan
• LIFE STORIES: A PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH TECHNIQUE - Rena D. Harold, Margaret L. Palmiter, Susan A. Lynch and Carol R. Freedman-Doan
• ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND CASE MANAGEMENT: INFUSING MACRO SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE - Dennis D. Long
• THE IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF CHANGING JUVENILE JUSTICE - Preston Elrod and Daryl Kelley
• PROTECTING WOMEN'S JOBS: UNIONS AND DEINDUSTRIALIZATION - Marietta Morrissey
• FAMILY CORRELATES OF DELINQUENCY: COHESION AND ADAPTABILITY - Glenn Shields and Richard D. Clark
• SECOND-ORDER VICTIM-BLAMING - Paula L. Dressel, Vincent Carter, and Anand Balachandran

BOOK REVIEW ESSAY

• Unfaithful Angels: How …

Feminization Of The Aids Epidemic, Mark S. Kaplan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although males still constitute a substantial number of persons with AIDS, it is becoming clear that this is a disease affecting women and minority populations more adversely. Today women, while representing approximately 16 percent of all AIDS cases nationwide that are reported to the Centers for Disease Control, make up the fastest-growing segment of the population with AIDS. This article contends that AIDS is increasingly afflicting women who have little economic, political, or social power. Furthermore, misdirected public policy has been partly responsible for the greater incidence of the disease in certain regions and populations.

Protecting Women's Jobs: Unions And Deindustrialization, Marietta Morrissey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper explores the impact of union membership on a group of unskilled women workers at a public university in a midwestern city. Although the region has experienced high levels of unemployment in recent years, women subjects have been relatively insulated from job loss. Consistent with other research findings on the consequences of unionization, interviews with 18 women indicate that their job tenure is long, tendency to exit jobs low, and wages and benefits relatively good. African-American and white women have slightly different employment histories, however, reflecting patterns of discrimination and occupational segregation in the work place. Regional economic change …

Second-Order Victim-Blaming, Paula L. Dressel, Vincent Carter, Anand Balachandran

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Second-order victim-blaming emerges within a host of rationales given when designated solutions to first-order social problems do not produce the desired results. In certain cases second-order victim-blaming is built upon first-order victim blaming. This article develops a typology of second-order victim blaming based on the nature of problems forthcoming from failed social interventions. It then explores the implications of the phenomenon for those upon whom the blame falls, for other actors in intervention systems, and for social policy and programs more generally. It concludes with a tentative model of the sociopolitical implications of accumulated institutionalized victim-blaming, including the extremes of …

Review Of Involuntary Clients In Social Work Practice. Andre Ivanoff, Betty J. Blythe And Tony Tripodi. Reviewed By Margaret Severson, Louisiana State University., Margaret Severson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Andre Ivanoff, Betty J. Blythe and Tony Tripodi. Involuntary Clients in Social Work Practice. Hawthorne, N.Y.: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994. $41.95 hardcover, $20.95 papercover.

Children In Poverty. Aletha C. Huston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Aletha C. Huston (Ed.), Children in Poverty, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. $19.95 papercover.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Vertical And Plyometric Style Depth Jump Using Electromyography (Emg), Robert M. Conatser

Masters Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to compare temporal data during the phases of jumping. Eight NCAA, Di vision I football players completed four jumps: three depth jumps from heights of 0.15 m, 0.30 m, and 0.46 m, and a standing vertical jump. Subjects were grouped according to height jumped. The dependent variables were phase time, amortization time, and time to peak EMG. Surface EMG synchronized with high speed video was used to analyze the response of six muscles used in the jumping movement. Findings indicated that subjects who consistently jumped higher spent more time in each phase of the …

Differentiated Drug Use And Its Relationship To Locus Of Control And Personality Factors Among Women Of Low Socioeconomic Status, Aubrie Catheryn Gordon

Dissertations

This research is a descriptive study assessing the psychological profiles of female substance abusers, both current abusers and recovering abusers, and female nonusers. The sample for this study consisted of 90 women of low socioeconomic status (SES) between the ages of 18 and 50 from a mid-size city in the north central United States. Thirty women from each of the following groups are used in this study: (a) women who are nonusers, (b) women who are currently abusing drugs and other chemical substances, and (c) women who are recovering from drug use and abuse. This study is important because such …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration In The Elementary School A Case Study, Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the descriptive and interpretive knowledge base about collaboration based on two interdisciplinary teams of elementary school educators representing disciplines of general education, special education, speech-language, reading, and counseling. Using an educational ethnographic design, data were collected through open interviews, team meetings and classroom observations. These data supported the construction of two distinct case studies as well as working hypotheses concerning interdisciplinary collaboration among professionals from specialized disciplines.

One case study was characterized as caseload collaboration. The team originated out of the desire among teachers from specialized disciplines to effect a more …

Lesbian Identity Development And Career Experiences, Mary Jo Thiel

Dissertations

This study used a qualitative research design to explore the experiences of lesbian women with respect to identity development and career issues.

Using the Stage Allocation Measure (SAM) (Cass, 1984), twenty lesbian women who were in the Synthesis Stage (Stage 6) of identity development were identified. In face-to-face, one and a half to two hour interviews, using a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researcher, respondents were asked open-ended questions about their coming out process and their career development .

Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and the transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory coding techniques. Themes and patterns were …

Life Stories: A Practice-Based Research Technique, Rena D. Harold, Margaret L. Palmiter, Susan A. Lynch, Carol R. Freedman-Doan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work, like many other practice-based professions, has historically been concerned about the discontinuity between practice and research. This discontinuity is frequently reduced to a debate between qualitative and quantitative methodology, placing the profession in a dilemma and further alienating practitioners. This article describes a qualitative data collection and analysis process as it was in a large-scale study exploring issues of family development. The use of open-ended story telling and ethnographic content analysis are recommended for use in practice and in practice-based research. Adoption practice and chemical dependency settings are presented as examples.

The Ideological Context Of Changing Juvenile Justice, Preston Elrod, Daryl Kelley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The ideological nature of juvenile justice policy is analyzed, including the domain assumptions of the predominant juvenile justice ideologies which presently inform juvenile justice policy development. Further, it is argued that the failure of present juvenile justice policies to effectively respond to the juvenile "crime problem" may lead to the opportunity to develop a more critically informed juvenile justice policy, one which is better able to meet the needs of clients and respond more effectively to juvenile crime. Finally, some of the essential elements of a critical juvenile justice ideology and practice capable of more realistically and humanely responding to …

The Teachers' And Principals' Perceptions Of The Impact Of Operation Physics On The Teaching Of Elementary Science In Michigan Schools, Brenda Prater Earhart

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Michigan Operation Physics (MOP) on the teaching and learning of basic physics concepts in the elementary classroom as perceived by both the teachers and principals of those teachers. In addition, the study sought to identify the teachers' and principals' perceptions of the principal's role in promoting science at the elementary level.

The method used for this study was survey research. Questionnaires were mailed to Michigan Operation Physics participants, non- Michigan Operation Physics participants, and the principals of those teachers in southwestern Michigan.

Findings of this study were that teachers' …

Rescue As Imperative For The Preservation Of Integrity: A Study Of Gentile Rescuers During The Holocaust And Their Motivations, Lynn M. Osborn

Masters Theses

When Nazi policies dictated the gradual and continual reduction in the liberties and rights of those deemed undesirable, most did nothing. Most continued to do nothing when these policies were extended to include mass sterilization and extermination. In spite of this, there were a few who acted. They gave of their own meager resources of food, money, and space, to help those who needed it. They risked their very lives as well as the lives of their loved ones to protect and save fellow human beings from the Nazi reign of terror.

Research into rescuers and their motivations have shown …