Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Social Acceptability Of Persons With Habit Disorders: The Effects Of Topography, Frequency, And Gender Manipulation, Douglas W. Woods

Dissertations

Literature suggests that children who exhibit habit disorders are less socially acceptable than children who do not exhibit such disorders. This series of studies investigated the social acceptability of adults who exhibit habit disorders. In Studies 1 and 2, undergraduate students rated the social acceptability of individuals who exhibited motor tics, vocal tics, hairpulling, and no habit. Results showed that the individuals with no habit were more socially acceptable than the individuals who exhibited either motor tics, vocal tics, or hairpulling.

In Study 3, videotapes were created in which actors simulated motor tics, vocal tics, Tourette’s Syndrome, and Trichotillomania. The …

Intuitive Understanding Of Time And Space At The Age Of Four, Josephine Barry-Davis

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the central hypothesis that “children by the age of four years construct accurate and lasting conceptions o f time (past, present, future) and space (near and far away).” In order to test this hypothesis the researcher relied on qualitative research guidelines developed and published in recent years to address social science and educational research issues. The research design is especially applicable to young children where the researcher assumes the role of participant observer. In order to control for the context of the research, the children were observed for time and space cognitive …

The Use Of Curriculum-Based Measurement To Evaluate The Effects Of A Remedial Education Program, Michael D. Hixson

Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of two Direct Instruction programs: Corrective Reading: Decoding and Connecting Math Concepts. The effectiveness of the interventions was evaluated using a single-subject experimental design with curriculumbased measurement (CBM) probes as the main means of assessment. Other methods of assessment included standardized achievement tests, school reports, and pre- and postcurriculum- based assessment probes. The CBM probes for all students were sensitive to the effects of the interventions, although there was a great deal of variability in the CBM reading probes and little correspondence across methods of assessment. The results indicate that the two Direct Instruction programs …

Nonmigrainous Pediatric Headache Management: Thermal Biofeedback And Parent Guidelines, Richard E. Arndorfer

Dissertations

This study explored the utility of the combination of thermal biofeedback and parent-mediated pain behavior management guidelines as a treatment for children experiencing nonmigrainous headache. Five children, ages 8 to 14, were assigned to baselines of varying lengths prior to receiving treatment. Four of the five children demonstrated significant reductions in one or more headache parameters (frequency, duration, average peak intensity) following treatment. The utility of thermal biofeedback and parent-mediated guidelines are supported as a treatment for children suffering from nonmigrainous headache.

Improving Special Education Teachers' Use Of Data-Based Instruction, Steven D. Goodman

Dissertations

The data-based decision model involves frequent measures of student performance (i.e., 2 - 5 times per week), frequent analysis of performance data (weekly or bi-weekly), and the application of decision rules. In the first study, we surveyed 406 special education teachers state-wide. Results of the survey suggest that the databased decision model is not generally practiced by special educators in the field. Just over one quarter of the respondents report to assessing student performance frequently enough to qualify as using the model. Only 10% of respondents indicate that they generally graph student performance. Additionally, less than 23% of respondents who …

The Effects Of Sibling-Implemented Training On Social Behaviors Of Autistic Children, Cristin L. Sullivan

Dissertations

The present study investigated the effectiveness of sibling-implemented pivotal response training (PRT) on the social behaviors of five children with autism. Using a multiple-baseline design across sibling pairs, participants were trained to use PRT while playing with their brother’s with autism. Measures of play skills and social behavior were assessed during baseline, training, sibling-independent play, and two-month follow-up sessions. Also, parents were asked to rate randomly selected video-tape segments from baseline and sibling-independent play sessions. The results indicated that siblings were able to learn effectively and implement PRT strategies following training. All of the children with autism demonstrated an increase …

Development Of Computer Model And Expert System For Pneumatic Fracturing Of Geologic Formations, Brian Michael Sielski

Dissertations

The objective of this study was the development of a new computer program called PF-Model to analyze pneumatic fracturing of geologic formations. Pneumatic fracturing is an in situ remediation process that involves injecting high pressure gas into soil or rock matrices to enhance permeability, as well as to introduce liquid and solid amendments. PF-Model has two principal components: (1) Site Screening, which heuristically evaluates sites with regard to process applicability; and (2) System Design, which uses the numerical solution of a coupled algorithm to generate preliminary design parameters.

Designed as an expert system, the Site Screening component is a high …

The Relationship Of Principal Leadership Styles And School-Site Conditions To Stress Levels Of Elementary School Teachers, Mark Nicholas Remy Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if principal leadership styles and school-site conditions were associated with elementary teachers' stress levels. The study focused on the relationship between the independent variables of principal leadership styles and school-site conditions and the dependent variables of teacher stress levels. A survey composed of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ), Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) and a demographic information sheet was administered to 585 teachers from 28 elementary schools. Tins study was conducted in the San Diego Unified School District during the 1998–1999 school year. The LBDQ measured two dimensions of leadership: Consideration and …

Towards A New Theory Of Personal Teaching Efficacy: The Development And Testing Of A New Model And Scale Using Teachers And Student Teachers Participating In A Reflective Practitioner Model Practicum, Jan Shields Edd

Dissertations

Research shows that teachers' sense of efficacy is a central mediator of teacher effectiveness and is related to student achievement. Generally, the results have been interpreted using a two-factor model of teacher efficacy. However, most researchers consider teachers' sense of efficacy to be a multidimensional construct with many underlying factors. This study introduces a new theory of personal teaching efficacy which proposes that personal teaching efficacy is best explained from a volitional perspective. The first purpose of the study was to reconceptualize the personal teaching efficacy construct and develop a model and scale. As a result of factor analysis techniques, …

Crossing The Line: Experiences Of The Formerly Homeless Living Past Homelessness, Susan Marie Bennett Dnsc, Msn, Fnp, Rn, Cs

Dissertations

This grounded theory study explored the experiences of formerly homeless individuals and families who have moved from homelessness into stable housing. This was an ethnographic study and involved the researcher staying in an east coast shelter where some of the formerly homeless participants had become staff members and reside. Data analysis was informed by dimensional analysis. Moving out of homelessness was the studies perspective. Findings of the study revealed the following dimensions that related the formerly homeless's experiences: (a)reacting to circumstances, or how they became homeless; (b)surviving as homeless, or how they lived while homeless; (c)crossing the fine, or what …

Individual Differences In Attributional Style: The Mediating Influence Of Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem, And Sex Role Identity, Angela J. Hirschy

Dissertations

Previous research into achievement attributions failed to demonstrate consistent main effects for sex or interaction effects between sex and situational or task variables. The ambiguity of these findings suggests that intervening variables other than sex may be influencing differences in attributions. Based on evidence derived from the theoretical and research literature related to psychological well-being and the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression, self-efficacy, selfesteem, and sex role identity have the potential to influence attributions made in different types of success and failure situations. The purpose of this study was to expand on achievement attribution research by investigating the relationship …

The Field Study Of A Training Transfer Enhancement Process And Its Effect On Transfer Of Training, Andrew W. Bowne

Dissertations

Transfer of training is defined as the degree to which trainees apply, in their jobs, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they gained in training. Research regarding transfer of training has called training effectiveness into question. For example, Baldwin and Ford (1988) reported average transfer rates typically in the 10% range.

The study tested the effectiveness of particular procedures and tools intended to enhance transfer of training. These transfer enhancing tools were employed by an experimental group of trainees’ supervisors (who received training from the researcher in the application of the tools) before a half-day problem-solving training workshop for their employees …

Relationships Between Leader Characteristics, Planned Change And Organizational Culture In A Dynamic Manufacturing Environment, Matthew Chodkowski

Dissertations

The new economic era has been marked by profound global change. In response, researchers and practitioners have called for a rethinking of the conventional concepts of leadership, change, and organizational culture to improve our competitiveness in this turbulent world market. This study investigated the relationships between leader style, leader behavior, leadership paradigm, leader knowledge of change, organizational culture potency, and planned change efficacy in a manufacturing company implementing a high performance work system change initiative. This study intended to contribute to the reconceptualization of the leadership construct and the explication of the leadership-culture-change linkage.

Six hundred and eighty-nine subjects representing …

Story As A Means To Distributed Cognition In Dispute Mediation, Mary Lindsay Edd

Dissertations

In spite of a long history and wide-spread usage, dispute mediation has developed largely in the absence of theories to corroborate its practices. Mediators are taught techniques during their training to help disputants communicate; however, the kinds, patterns and evocation of disputant discourse that may further advance the mediation process have received little attention. In particular, stories may have been overlooked as a means in the creation of mutual understanding and in the promotion of relationship. At the same time, some mediators disavow storytelling as an acceptable type of discourse as they believe that the focus of the activity is …

The Relationship Between Selected Environmental Variables And Attrition, Persistence, And Academic Success Of Majority And Minority College Students, Carole J. Woolford-Hunt

Dissertations

Research indicates that college student persistence, attrition, and success is related to the student’s ability to gain academic and social integration into the university community. This theory has guided researchers to explore either the academic or social factors that promote integration. Under the umbrella of social integration exists the underresearched category of environmental factors.

The overall purpose of this study was to identify selected environmental factors that affect minority and majority students’ persistence and success rates in a Midwestern state-run university. The environmental variables of size of college within a larger university, residential versus nonresidential nature of colleges within a …

Determining Cutoff Scores For The Mmpi-2 Substance Abuse Scales For An Inmate Population, Barbara A. Johnston

Dissertations

The current research project examined the psychometric properties of the substance abuse scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2) with an inmate population. The scales of interest included the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale Revised (MAC-R), the Addiction Potential Scale (APS) and the Addiction Acknowledgement Scale (AAS).

A total of 80 subjects were administered the MMPI-2 which resulted in 73 valid profiles. Of the valid profiles, 54 were chemically dependent and 19 were nonchemically dependent inmates. There were no differences between groups in regard to sociodemographic variables.

The data analyses indicated that the AAS and APS are efficient and …

The Effects Of A Combination Of Feedback, Goals, And Consequences On The Performance Of Four Small Businesses, Timothy V. Nolan

Dissertations

Performance measurement approaches such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) offer a format for attending to a few performance metrics rather than several different performance indicators. While the BSC approach offers a nice format for tracking performance, it does not provide a conceptual framework for improving performance. That framework can be found in Behavioral Systems Analysis. The Total Performance System emphasizes the importance of internal and external feedback in improving performance. Several studies have investigated feedback interventions in organizational settings. The intervention found to be most effective is a combination of feedback, goals, and consequences. The purpose of the current study …

Educational Affirmations For Healthy Self-Esteem- An Exploratory Factor Analysis, Kaye L. Centers

Dissertations

This investigation explored the underlying constructs of Clarke’s Educational Affirmations, a set of 54 statements designed to support the development of healthy self-esteem and the accomplishment of the developmental tasks of the psychosocial stages theorized by Erikson. The Preliminary Educational Affirmations Scale (PEAS), a transformed version of the Educational Affirmations, was devised and administered to 520 community college students. A principal components factor analysis of the results indicates the presence of two main factors that accounted for 28% of the total variance in the data, and offers partial support for the hypothesized factors of worthiness (Being) and competence (Doing).

The …

The Muggletonians: A People Apart, Juleen Audrey Eichinger

Dissertations

Muggletonians were followers of John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton, seventeenth-century London tailors who believed that they were the last two witnesses of the Spirit described in Revelation 11:3. A dizzying array of religious and political groups flowered for a time in mid-seventeenth-century England, inspired by the establishment of the Church of England and the continental Reformation in prior centuries, and unleashed by the collapse of the English monarchy in 1640. Muggletonians were long considered to be heretics or lunatics, one example of the many religious eccentrics and fanatics who flourished in England during this period.

The opportunity now exists to …

An Analysis Of Parental And Peer Attachment And Its Determinant Factors: A Test Of Attachment Theory On Malaysian Students At American Universities, Noriah Mohd. Ishak

Dissertations

This study examined the quality of parental and peer attachments among Malaysian students studying at universities in the midwestern region of the United States. The study was conducted in two phases. Two hundred and two students (106 male, 96 female) participated in the first phase of the study, and 8 students (4 male, and 4 female) participated in the second phase of the study. Phase One employed a cross-sectional quantitative design using a self-administered questionnaire [the Inventory of Parental and Peer Attachment (IPPA) developed by Armsden and Greenberg (1987)] and revised by the researcher. This instrument has 53 items that …

Diversity, Collaboration, Reflective Practice, And Technology In Professional Education Programs: Strategic Choices For Higher Education, Caren L. Sax Edd

Dissertations

Today's postsecondary students are entering American institutions of higher education (IHEs) with different experiences, expectations, and learning needs than students of previous generations. Calls for more diverse campuses, advanced technology, and lifelong learning are maintaining pressure on IHEs to adjust to new demands for a more encompassing vision as traditional approaches are no longer adequate. The challenges are tremendous; the responses must be extensive and reflective if higher education is to achieve its goals of preparing students for productive and meaningful lives. This study investigated student experiences in a yearlong professional education program that was focused by four strategic choices …

Lifting The Veil Off Widowhood: Portraits Of Transformation, Louise A. Stanger Edd

Dissertations

This qualitative research study has explored the lives of 13 women who were widowed before the age of 55, who are professionals, educators, businesswomen, and community activists, to learn how their lives have been transformed since the death of their spouse. For this study, the death of a spouse was seen as a transforming event in the life of a married woman. The nature of this transformation varied with each respondent. Portraiture was the primary biographical methodology used. Purposive sampling provided the opportunity to interview women from diverse backgrounds. Five global, open-ended interview questions were used and demographic data were …

Marital Satisfaction Factors For Korean-Americans, Soonja Choi Lee

Dissertations

Problem. Many marital satisfaction studies have focused on many sub-groups: Caucasians, Blacks, and many ethnic groups such as Japanese, German, Polish, Indian, Chinese-American, Swedish, Mexican-American, Nigerian, and Koreans in Korea. No study was found that has investigated marital satisfaction factors for Korean-American couples.

Method. This study evaluated marital satisfaction factors that were important to Korean Americans. The Korean-American population for this study was reached through the Korean-American church organizations in America by random selection of churches.

A total of 558 surveys was usable for analyses. Of the 558 subjects, approximately 49% were husbands and 51% were wives. Three hundred …

The Community College Coach: Leadership Practices And Athlete Satisfaction, Jodi P. Coffman Edd

Dissertations

Community college coaches and athletes completed the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), to assess the leadership practices of coaches of various sports. Soccer coaches and their athletes were also surveyed to assess the impact of the congruence of leadership practices ratings upon athlete satisfaction. Two samples were taken from Spring and Fall, 1998 sports: (a) 225 full-time head coaches of team sports in which there was a male and female equivalent in California's community colleges, and (b) 280 men's and women's soccer athletes. The descriptive statistics conducted indicated that there were more similarities than differences between the male and female coaches, …

An Understanding Of Selected Familial Dynamics As They Relate To The Prevention Of Substance Use Among Youth From St. Martin, Vincent A. David

Dissertations

Problem. Various studies examined the relationship between youth, drug use, and the role that families play in influencing such use. Thus, it is evident that youth use drugs, and thereasons for their drug use vary widely. However, there have not been widespread research done on the youth who do not use drugs, particularly from a family perspective. Also, no research study has been known to be conducted on St. Martin of such nature.

Purpose. This study sought to gain an understanding on how selected familial dynamics functioned within three families in deterring their youth from becoming involved in …

Screening For Eating Disorders Utilizing The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Roseann M. Woodka

Dissertations

Problem

Eating disorders, in the form of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, have been recognized as significant mental-health issues for the last three decades, and the incidence is rising as we approach the new millennium. Currently, many women who come into a mental-health setting due to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship issues, sexual issues, etc., are also struggling with eating-disordered behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. These behaviors, thoughts, and feelings may remain well hidden from the counselor throughout the course of therapy or until they become severe and more difficult to treat. Because eating disorders are very complex involving psychological, physical, …

Object Relations And Identity Disturbances In Bulimic Women, Kathy Appledorn

Dissertations

Problem. Although diagnostic criteria of bulimia center on weight- and food-related issues, eating disorders may be viewed as a response to deficits in self-regulatory functions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of bulimia, object relations, and identity. This study tested the hypotheses that women with a more severe eating pathology have high scores on object-relations disturbance as well as identity disturbance. It was postulated that women who have been assessed as having a more cohesive ego might respond to cognitive behavioral therapy while those who are assessed as having less intact ego …

Pastoral Effectiveness : A Study Of Differences Among Comparison Groups Of Seventh-Day Adventist Clergy, Peter Swanson

Dissertations

Problem. Methods of comparison are required to evaluate pastoral effectiveness. This study was an examination of statistically significant differences among contrasted groups of clergy to identify characteristics and performance patterns associated with productivity and effectiveness.

Method. Pastors from Anglo Seventh-day Adventist churches in North America and Canada were assigned to five groups that were evaluated using the Adventist Pastor Inventory, Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Pastoral Tasks Survey, and Pastoral Tasks Questionnaire. Ministers who baptized 50 or more persons within 3 years were compared with those who baptized 10 or fewer in the same period and clergy rated most effective …

A Study Of K-12 Teachers In Small School Districts : Their Levels Of Stress, The Source Of Stress, And The Effect Of Initiating Coping Strategies, Roberta J. Farwell

Dissertations

Problem. This study explored the relationship between K-12 regular education teachers in school districts with fewer than 2,500 students and their levels of stress as it related to the sources of stress, demographic variables, and initiation of coping strategies.

Method. The subjects of this study were 329 K-12 teachers. They completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Education form, a demographic/coping mechanism form, and Stressor Source Check List.

Results. (1) Classroom, building, and community issues affected teachers' attitudes toward their profession:Stress levels, as measured by the MBI, were reflected in their identification of sources of stress in the work …

A Professional Competency Survey Of Organizational Consultants In San Diego County, Angie Mays Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer understanding of the rapidly growing field of Organizational Consulting. Specifically, this research focuses on developing profiles of various types of organizational consultants in San Diego County. The types of profiles considered included: Executive Coaches, Feedback Specialists, Motivational Speakers, Trainers, Educators, and Consultants. The research topics examined included: background and professional preparation of consultants, professional resources utilized, interventions most commonly used, and level of job satisfaction. A descriptive survey was employed to aid in the investigation. The questionnaire consisted of questions revised from Waller's (1988) national survey of training consultants, and …