Digital Commons Network^™

Horizontal Fragmentation And Allocation In A Distributed Database For Cost Minimization With Reliability And Space Constraints, Elmo Loren Ivey

Masters Theses

In this paper a method for horizontal fragmentation of a relational database is presented. A method is given for calculating the benefit or cost savings obtained by allocating a given fragment to a site, independently for each site.

To obtain optimal benefit each fragment is allocated to all sites where there is a positive benefit. This may result in the allocation of some fragments to multiple sites.

Finally a method is given for removing or reallocating certain fragments from sites with insufficient storage. Also, a method is given for allocating fragments to multiple sites to meet constraints on the required …

Gender And Assumptions Underpinning Research Among Doctoral Students, Eileen F. Stryker

Dissertations

The doctoral experiences of women and men are distinguishable and different. Studies of these differences have not considered the relationship of gender to the content of the curriculum. Learning to conduct scientific research is central to doctoral study. Widely held notions of what constitutes legitimate science are challenged by those who study the relationship between gender and science. They suggest that the predominant view of science is based on a set of ontological and epistemological assumptions which are incompatible with women's experiences. Empirical studies in the psychology of science suggest that assumptions underpinning research are associated with gender and with …

Relationship Of University Faculty Loyalty And Faculty Perceptions Of Department Chairperson Leadership Style, Thomas A. Ongwela

Dissertations

Interest in the study of employee loyalty is present in the literature on leadership and organizations. Most studies have been focused on subordinate loyalty to immediate superiors; in education, most studies have investigated principal-teacher relationships.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of university faculty loyalty and faculty perceptions of the department chairperson's leadership style. Loyalty was defined as faculty willingness to accept, like, trust, and respect their department chairperson as demonstrated by implementing or emulating professional skills or recommendations of the chairperson. Leadership style was operationalized using seven scales: authoritarianism, emotional detachment, hierarchical independence, hierarchical influence, …

A Dynamic Study Of The Effect Of Cationic Starch Molecular Weight And Charge On Filler And Fines Flocculation, Deflocculation, And Reflocculation, Bob Shian-Hou Ching

Masters Theses

A modified laboratory instrument was used to dynamically monitor the flocculation of fines and filler under various shear conditions on the "seconds" basis. A three-way factorial design and ANOVA were used to evaluate the significance of cationio starch molecular weight and charge in affecting fines and filler flocculation, deflocculation, and reflocculation. The reduction of molecular weight under high shear was suggested by the results. Both main effects and interaction effects of charge and molecular weight were important in determining flocculation. Charge was the only significant factor for the reflocculation process. Molecular weight was more important than charge in imparting shear …

Self-Esteem In Elementary School Children, Joyce Carson

Dissertations

The self-concepts of 232 fourth and fifth grade students in nine classroom groups were measured by use of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI). Each student completed the SEI, and the classroom teacher for each student completed the SEI for the students who were the subjects of the study. The subjects were from a medium-sized urban school district and from a lower or middle class socioeconomic background.

Data from the administration of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory are reported as five separate scores: (a) general concept, (b) social-self-peers, (c) home-parents, (d) school-academic, and (e) total concept.

Data for the subjects were aggregated …

Effects Of Feedback And Incentives On The Use Of Academic Skills, Jose E. Candia

Masters Theses

This research investigates the notion that the combination of feedback and incentives are essential components for the maintenance of effective academic skills with undergraduate students on academic probation. This notion is in contradiction to the assumption underlying remedial activities in most universities, where it is assumed that once the students have acquired the skills through workshops or texts they will continue to use them.

The use of the academic skills of lecture note-taking, comprehensive reading, and critical reading was studied with three undergraduate students. That use was measured prior to the intervention, during workshops of training, when feedback alone was …

Detection Of Deception In The Laboratory As A Function Of Motivation And Set Size, Daniel Mark Tuckett

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the polygraph in a controlled laboratory setting. The Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT) was the procedure employed in conjunction with the galvanic skin subjects over the two trial each. Overall the polygrapher was correct 44 times, out of 80 trials. This number of detections exceeded chance (p<.001) levels. The manipulation of subject motivation with a monetary reward increased detection rates significantly (p<.05) in comparison to those offered money. With each subject being tested over two trials, there appears to be a habituation effect as indicated by a decrease in detection from trial one to trial two. The relationship fell slightly short of significance at the (p< .05) level. In general the level of the subject motivation may play a major role in the detection of subjects who attempt deceit.

Analysis Of The Effects Of Goal And Feedback Specificity On Subsequent Task Performance, Gregory Mark Van Dahm

Masters Theses

The effects of goal and feedback specifically on subsequent task performance were examined to text the hypothesis that specific goals and feedback facilitate performance to a greater degree than general goals and feedback (Ilgen, Fisher, & Taylor, 1979). Ten subjects, in each of the four conditions, were assigned one of two levels of goal specificity and feedback specificity and were then required to perform a simple assembly and sorting task utilizing multiple size and color fasteners. No significance was discovered between correctly assembled and sorted products of the four groups although there was a general trend in the hypothesized direction. …

Use Of A Changeover Key To Train Serial Learning In The Pigeon, Rhoda Kay Yutzy-Ryan

Masters Theses

Three pigeons were presented with a serial learning task involving a sequence of three colors: yellow, green and red. The colors appeared on a lit key one at a time in random order. The pigeons were required to peck the colors in the correct order and to use a second lit key (the changeover key) to change the color when it was incorrect. The data show that the pigeons were able to learn the task and generalize to novel arrays at a high level of accuracy. This extends the findings on serial learning with pigeons to a type of sequence …

A Time-Management Procedure For Helping Graduate Students Accomplish Academic Tasks, Yousef Abdulwahab Abuhmaidan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-management and a task checklist on task completion, the amount of study time and students' grade point average (GPA). A package consisting of a time-management calendar and a task checklist was provided to five Jordanian students. A multiple-baseline across subjects design was used. Individual weekly meetings were conducted to assess the progress of the students on the use of the time-management calendar and task checklist. Students were asked to bring proof of accomplishments for the completed tasks. During the study the completion of tasks went from 64.6% to 92.2% …

Curbing Noncontractual Absences In A Mental Health Setting Through The Application Of Contingent Rewards, Craig A. Crawford

Masters Theses

In this study, the effects of contingent rewards on attendance behavior of direct care staff in a psychiatric institution were investigated. The intervention consisted of a letter of commendation and an opportunity to win a lottery for the staff exhibiting perfect attendance for a two week pay period. A multiple baseline analysis of three units failed to show significant declines in absenteeism although there were areas of significant improvement.

The Effectiveness Of Video Tape Monitoring Of Direct Instruction Procedures Across Teachers, John H. Cottrell

Masters Theses

A multiple baseline across subjects experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of monitoring subject performance and providing feedback regarding the implementation of Direct Instruction (DI) procedures from video taped recordings of the subject's presentations of the DI lessons upon the implementation of those DI procedures. The subjects were two junior high school special education teachers who teach reading using the SRA Corrective Reading; Decoding B program. The DI lessons were recorded on VHS video tape and observational data were recorded during baseline. During intervention, a monitor also provided feedback on the subjects performance using examples from the video …

The Effects Of Adventure Activities On An Objective Measure Of Self-Concept, Marjorie Ellen Bethke

Masters Theses

Although a plethora of studies have linked experiences in adventure education to the enhancement of self-concept, virtually all have been faulted on methodological grounds. In this study the inferential leap from test performance to actual behavior was narrowed, if not eliminated, by utilizing systematic direct observation as an alternative to self-reports. A single behavior, hugs, was isolated as an indicator of self-concept. Eighth grade Outdoor Education students were observed over a baseline period, then engaged in a short-term, intense, adventure education experience. A second baseline revealed an appreciable increase in the rate of hug behavior under select circumstances. The data …

Increasing The Participation Rate For International Behaviorists At The Convention Of The Association For Behavior Analysis, Marsha Lee Benz

Masters Theses

This is a descriptive study that reviewed past participation of International behaviorists at the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) convention, to provide sore help to these presenters to improve the experience, and to disseminate behavioral information outside of the United States by trying to Increase International participation at the ABA convention.

These methods were used to Invite the behavioristsi (a) call for papers, (b) personalized invitations, and (c) poster invitations. Procedures used to improve the convention experience weret (a) an interest questionnaire, and (b) pre- and post-convention surveys.

Comparisons were made between the number of International presenters from years 1981 …

The Effect Of Feedback Given To Nurse Aides On Response Latency To Patient Call Lights In A Geriatric Nursing Home, Patricia L. Matuszak

Masters Theses

Feedback has been used in staff performance and management systems in various human service settings. It was applied to four female nurse aides in a geriatric nursing home to decrease response latency to patient call lights. A multiple-baseline-across-subjects design was used with each aide receiving feedback on her mean response time to assigned patients' call lights. Two of the four subjects demonstrated a decrease in mean response times, while two showed little effect after feedback.

A Hydrogeologic Investigation Of The Balkema Wetland, Daniel V. Fronczek

Masters Theses

The Balkema wetland, located In southwestern Kalamazoo County, Michigan, represents complex biological and hydrologic Interaction between surface water and a two-aquifer hydrologic system. Situated on the southeastern flank of the Kalamazoo moraine, the glacial geology of the area plays a key role in the understanding of the hydrogeologic function of the wetland. A two-aquifer system, an upper unconfined, and a lower confined, Interact In the vicin ity of the wetland where the c la y /till aqulclude dividing the two systems 1s absent. Various parameters, both hydrologic and geochemical, were measured In the study area, Including specific conductance values of …

The Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home's Foster Shelter Care Unit: Toward An Evaluation, Michael John Underwood

Masters Theses

A formative evaluation of the Foster Shelter Care Unit was conducted in order to analyze the success/failure of the program during its firs t year of operation. Data on 77 cases were analyzed, and nine Independent variables and one dependent variable were bivariately tested 1n order to provide a theoretical explanation of the success/failure rate.

The evaluation was conducted 1n order to supply the Foster Shelter Care Unit with recommendations to enhance its success/ failure rate and to modify its existing policies.

The success rate for the unit was 48.1%, and it was found that the only significant association with …

A Study Of The Impact Of Supervisory Style On Teachers’ Job Satisfaction In The Secondary Schools In Kuwait, Abdulaziz D-M Al-Duaij

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (1) Do the supervisory styles used in the secondary schools of Kuwait satisfy teachers' lower and higher needs? (2) When using supervisory styles in the secondary schools in Kuwait, do supervisors consider teachers' growth and development? (3) What are the effective supervisory styles used at the secondary school level in Kuwait?

The research population consisted of 400 teachers randomly selected from three educational districts in Kuwait. Two questionnaires, Teachers' Perception of Supervisors Questionnaire (TPSQ) and Teachers' Need Satisfaction Questionnaire (TNSQ), were used to gather data. Of the questionnaires distributed, …

A Few Parting Words, Norman N. Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The publication of this issue brings to an end thirteen years of my involvement with this Journal as Managing Editor, Publisher, and Editor. Ralph Segalman and I put the first issue together in the backyard of my house in West Hartford in 1972. The issue was printed in 1973 and marked the beginning of an adventure that has lasted all these years. We advanced the money to pay for the printing of that first issue. The subscriptions that came in enabled us to pay back the advances and to be self-supporting.

Social Workers' Satisfactions: Methodological Notes And Substantive Findings, Y. Meller, D. Macarov

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The use of instruments derived from industrial research to investigate the work satisfactions of social workers can lead to distortion of results. Responses from ninety-one social workers in nine agencies indicates sources of satisfactions and dissatisfactions not present in industrial settings, and -- in contradistinction to the "dual-factor" or "bipolarity" theory -- both satisfactions and dissatisfactions arising from the same source in some cases.

The most important factors affecting workers' satisfactions were the ability to achieve results, their relationships with clients, their relationship with members of multidisciplinary staffs, and presence or absence of sufficient time and resources.

The "higher order" …

Social Service Needs Of Migrants In Limbo: Israelis In New York, Josef Korazim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is an exploratory study about the social service needs of Israeli migrants in New York City. A structured, face to face interview schedule was administered by the author to a sample of 86 intact families. The families were found to be mostly undecided regarding their stay in the United States. Their state of "limbo" was reflected in specific patterns of utilization of general and ethnic social services, and in six major areas of concern and needs: (1) a sense of social isolation; (2) the wives' low level of adjustment; (3) emotional stress due to the families' hesitancy to stay …

Holidays As Multiple Realities: Experiencing Good Times And Bad Times After A Disabling Injury, Mary Jo Deegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Holidays are idealized as times of celebration. They are embedded in cultural symbols, family patterns, and lived experience. Because all holidays are not good times, however, the lived experience of holidays is considerably more complex than its symbolization. This ambivalence is dramatically deepened for recently disabled adults who view holidays as a specially strained time of remembrance. Past holidays are often idealized in a new way as one's biography is placed into a new embodied reality. Simultaneously, holidays remain days when one is supposed to celebrate, and often denote some celebration for the injured. The resulting experience is a melange …

A Perspective On Differential Services In Counseling: Altruism And Likeness, James Latimore

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this exploratory study using a small sample, an attempt is made to understand the differential services provided by vocational counselors in a non-profit agency, a setting in which a strong identification with clients is encouraged. The services are measured and the unequal measures of service are related to the degree to which the client is seen as an image of the counselor in certain respects. Counseling is viewed as an altruistic occupation and the differential services are analyzed in this context. In general, it is suggested that the differential counseling and psycho-therapeutic services noted by other writers all reflect …

Restraint Economics And The New Right: A Structural Analysis Of The Political Economy Of Social Services Cutbacks, John Butcher

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Restraint by government in the area of social service spending in the 1980's has become an issue of grave concern for social service practitioners, planners, and administrators. The emergence in North America of neo-conservative economic policies has engendered a body of critical and provocative literature which examines the effects of "restraint economics".

Recent work in geography has sought to locate the supply-side trend within a framework of macro-level processes. These suggest that a declining public commitment to maintaining the social safety net is linked to broader structural changes in the workplace and spatial shifts of capital and industry (Dear & …

Children's Violence To Single Mothers, Larry R. Livingston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A survey of 151 mothers to determine characteristics of violence experienced from their children. The survey assessed the length of time they had been single parents, the age and sex of their children, the frequency and types of violence they experienced, and the influence of violent adult modeling upon the children's violence.

Findings indicate that 29% of the mothers had been assaulted by their children. The violent families contained more children than the nonviolent families, and the violent children's ages were more closely-spaced. Battered mothers also reported greater modeling of violence (the children seeing an adult striking their mother) than …

Loneliness And Graduate Students: A Descriptive Study, Mary Zirpoli

Dissertations

The major purposes of this study were to identify the lonely among graduate students, the types and degree of loneliness they experience, and the possible variables associated with graduate student loneliness. The Belcher Extended Loneliness Scale (BELS), and a second questionnaire about the causes of loneliness, were administered to 337 graduate students in 23 classes at Western Michigan University (WMU).

The BELS identified two types of loneliness that some graduate students experience as well as 104 significant differences which were found to relate mostly to an unspecified type of loneliness. The following variables were found to be very important in …

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Algorithms To Solve The Maximum Concurrent Flow Problem, Farhad Shahrokhi

Dissertations

The maximum concurrent flow (MCFP) is a generalized commodity flow problem, where every pair of entities can send and receive flow Ma85 , BM86 , MS86 . We develop efficient labeling algorithms to solve the MCFP. We explore the combinatorial structure of the MCFP and show that the problem of associating costs (distances) to the edges so as to maximize the minimum cost of routing the concurrent flow is the dual of the MCFP. This duality covers max-flow min-cut theorem as a special case. Applications in packet switched networks At81 and cluster analysis Ma86 are discussed.

Experiencing Scale Discrimination Between More And Less Productive Psychotherapy Sessions, Drevis L. Hager

Dissertations

Previous studies have failed to detect differences in experiencing (EXP) between more and less productive psychotherapy sessions. This study explored the possible relationship between EXP and session productivity and examined the efficacies of the conventional versus an alternative method of applying the EXP Scale.

Six client-therapist pairs audio recorded 52 psychotherapy hours, and after each independently completed a session productivity questionnaire. More and less productive sessions were selected based on the clients', therapists', and the clients' and therapists' combined responses. EXP ratings were made of 8-minute audio recorded segments, first using conventional mode and peak scores, and then using alternative …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Regular Meeting November 21, 1986, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes
• Correspondence
• Remarks by the President
• Gift Report
• Grant Report
• Personnel Report
• Recommendation re Airport Hangar Facility Contracts
• Recommendation re Telecommunications System Installation Contract
• Recommendation re Extension of Contract - Telecommunications Project Consultant
• Recommendation re Welborn Center Contracts
• Recommendation re Capital Outlay Budget Requests for 1987/88
• Recommendation re Program Requests for 1987/88
• Recommendation re Authorization to Confer Degrees
• Board Committee Reports
• Public Comments
• Executive Session

Western News, Nov. 20, 1986, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Gift establishes two Medallion Scholarships in art, Grant to fund study of organ donation law, New program targets high-risk courses, Several campus beautification projects under way, Groundwater contamination to be discussed, Apprenticeship program provides rigorous on-the-job training, Two textbooks by Poling published