Digital Commons Network^™

Risk Perception In Cardiovascular Disease, Michelle Ellen Block

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains among the leading causes of death in the United States despite widespread knowledge about risk factors as well as effective primary prevention strategies. Risk perception is a complex phenomenon that plays an important role in how persons view disease and ultimately how they make health behavior choices. This study is supported by the knowledge that few studies have examined how persons perceive cardiovascular risk or the variables thought to contribute to the formation of risk perception.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately persons perceive personal risk for cardiovascular disease and identify …

Using Grounded Theory To Develop A Framework For Software Testing Best Practice In A Telecommunications Company, David Hendrick

Dissertations

Software testing is a key part of the software development process, irrespective of the development methodology being followed. Estimates suggest that testing can account for more than 50% of the cost of a software development project. However, the cost of inadequate testing or verifying software can be far greater; this can result in losses that could total more than 10% of an organisation’s turnover. It is clear that software testing is essential; but while many companies implement different forms of testing, there is often no structure or best practice followed to this testing. There appears to be a gap in …

Intragroup Conflict : Its Dimensions And Effects On Group Effectiveness In Science And Engineering Natural Work Groups, Lisa S. Blanchard

Dissertations

Team-based structures are widely used in organizations on the premise that these groups bring valuable assets beyond that of the individual contributor. Globalization, competitive pressures and the complex nature of modern technological problems requires the input of multiple individuals from varying backgrounds. This is particularly true in science and engineering fields. However, true teams that can achieve the organizational advantages that are asserted by team advocates take time and resources to build; they do not occur by accident. The investment in building a team is worthwhile only when the team is able to achieve objectives and deliver value to the …

Validating And Generating Realistic Routes For Individual Human Characters In Virtual Urban Terrain, Gregg Thomas Hanold

Dissertations

The automatic generation of movement routes for autonomous computer controlled entities in virtual environments is an essential and ubiquitous task in simulations of many types and applications. Practically all existing route planning algorithms, many of which are implementations of either the well-known A* algorithm or variants of it, generate routes that are optimized for some route attribute, such as length or movement time. In this research an algorithm is developed that generates routes that are not optimized but are instead realistic, where realism is defined as similarity to routes generated by humans. Before designing the realistic route planning algorithm, four …

Actions, Practices, And Workplace Conditions That Characterize High-Engagement Workgroups In A Hospital Environment, Barbette Weimer-Elder

Dissertations

In the United States a large number of people are not engaged at work. The lack of engagement affects the service outcomes as well as financial bottom line of organizations. The cost of actively disengaged employees in the U.S. is about $300 billion a year. Research cites the importance of examining business units that scored high on employee engagement to learn about actions and practices that drive business outcomes.

Between 2005-2010 The Community Hospital (TCH), part of a Healthcare Corporation in Valley Town, USA (pseudonym), assessed employee engagement using Gallup’s Q12 survey. Some groups scored in the top quartile and …

The Role Of Religious Orientation And Ethnic Identity On Religious Coping Among Bereaved Individuals, Luis G. Cruz-Ortega

Dissertations

Problem: The literature suggests that religious orientation and ethnic identity inform the religious coping process, which is better understood in the context of a particular stressor. However, research on this topic is limited, particularly among ethnic minorities.

Method: A survey was used to collect data on religious orientation, ethnic identity, and religious coping from a sample of 319 adults who had lost a significant other within 36 months of the study. A total of 11 variables were measured using The Means-Ends Spirituality Questionnaire, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised, and the Brief RCOPE.

Results: A canonical variate labeled "religious engagement" was …

The Relationship Between Parental And Adolescent Religiosity Factors And Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking Among Older Adolescents In The Anglophone/Latin Caribbean, Karen Christoffel Flowers

Dissertations

Problem: Sexually active youth across the Anglophone/Latin Caribbean have been identified as among the most-at-risk for HIV infection. Studies conducted in the United States have identified parental and religiosity factors associated with adolescent sexual risk-taking, but these relationships remain largely unexplored in the Caribbean region.

Method: This cross-sectional study, based on survey data generated by the Seventh-day Adventist Caribbean Youth Survey, investigated the relationship between parental and adolescent religiosity factors and sexual at-risk behaviors reported by adolescents ages 16-18 years attending Seventh-day Adventist Church-operated secondary schools across the region. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the …

The Influence Of University Personnel Upon Students' Spirituality At Selected Adventist Universities In West Africa, Isaiah Ola Abolarin

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a deep concern for youth and young adults' spirituality. Hence the church established institutions of higher learning with the aim of restoring in youth and young adults the image of God in which they were created. There are programs and activities in these institutions to accomplish the aim, but there is still concern among church leaders and parents that young people will abandon their faith and exit the church. This study explored the influence of interactions between students and university personnel in selected Adventist universities in West Africa that, apart from programs …

Narratives Of The Leadership Development Of Adults Who Served As Summer Camp Staff In The Mennonite Setting : A Multiple Case Study, Jason Harrison

Dissertations

Problem. Leaders today need a new set of knowledge and skills to be effective in collaborative environments. The focus of this study was to investigate how collaborative environments can contribute to leadership development. The purpose of this study was to describe how the collaborative environment of summer camp helped shape emerging adults as leaders. The summer camp setting is inherently collaborative and, therefore, can inform and develop leaders for future collaborative settings. The research question in focus for this study was, How do adults who served at a summer camp as emerging adults describe the experiences that helped shape them …

A Grounded Theory Of How Jewish Experiential Education Impacts The Identity Development Of Jewish Emerging Adults, Scott Turberg Aaron

Dissertations

The Jewish community has increasingly relied upon Experiential Education as a pedagogical approach to instilling Jewish identity and communal affiliation over the past twenty years. The Experiential Education format of travel programs has specifically been emphasized and promoted for Jewish Emerging Adults for this purpose, and outcome studies of these trip programs have demonstrated success in instilling identification and affiliation with both the Jewish community and the state of Israel among their participants. However, little is actually empirically known about the processes that impact the participant during the trip experience - the so-called "black box" - or how significant a …

A Historical Analysis Of South Holland School District 151 Desegregation Order: An Examination Of Superintendent Decisions Based On Board Actions Grounded In The Context Of Prevailing Social, Political, Legal And Educational Conditions For The Period 1967-2010, Cecilia Villanueva Heiberger

Dissertations

This study provided a historical analysis of the 1968 court ordered desegregation of South Holland School District 151. The purpose of this case study was to examine, according to primary source evidence, how the superintendents grounded their decisions within the prevailing social, political, legal and educational conditions of the time. The researcher applied the leadership framework of Sergiovanni's Five Sources of Authority by identifying words and actions of superintendents that support a source of authority. This case study sought to identify how the decisions made, actions taken, and resulting changes created a new context for each succeeding superintendent to operate …

Just Like Everyone Else? Locating South Asians In 21st Century American Popular Media, Bhoomi K. Thakore

Dissertations

In the 21st century, representations of South Asians in American popular media have grown exponentially. This is a particularly interesting phenomenon when considering the status that South Asians occupy in the American racial hierarchy. In Just Like Everyone Else? Locating South Asians in 21st Century American Popular Media, I examine audience perceptions of South Asian/Indian characters and actors in American popular media. My research is guided by the following question: to what extent do audience perceptions of South Asians in U.S. popular media reflect pre-existing ideologies of race, gender, ethnicity, and immigration? Using data from 155 open-ended online questionnaires and …

Prolegomena To Kant's Theory Of The Derangement Of The Cognitive Faculties, Gisele Velarde La Rosa

Dissertations

In the literature on Immanuel Kant there is no systematic account of the derangement of the constitutive cognitive faculties from an exclusively philosophical point of view. This dissertation opens the path for the development of such an account. It does so by presenting Kant's positive account of the proper functioning of the constitutive cognitive faculties, namely, sensibility, imagination, and understanding. As such, the dissertation offers a series of "prolegomena" to a Kantian theory of the derangement of the cognitive faculties. At the foundation of Kant's theory of cognition is the transcendental unity of apperception, the original ground of cognition. Through …

Remembering The Cultural Trauma Legacies Of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions On Racism, Ethnic Identity, And Racial Socialization, Kimya Pearl Barden

Dissertations

The purpose of this research investigation is to explore cultural trauma theory on African American young adult development. Cultural trauma theory asserts the adverse cross-cultural encounter, North American slavery, reproduces intergenerational psychosocial legacies for contemporary African Americans. Accordingly, cultural trauma theory is used to explore with African American young adults three "slave" legacies: ethnic identity formation, perceptions of racism, and racial socialization experiences. A qualitative case study approach is used for (N=26) participants enrolled in either college or a GED program. Each young adult participates in either an individual or focus group interview. To aid in data triangulation, older African …

The World Is Not Yet Completed: Moral Imaginaries And Everyday Politics In Progressive Religious Communities, Todd Nicholas Fuist

Dissertations

How religion shapes political and civic engagement has been a consistently fruitful question for American social theorists. Religion has often been understood as providing the moral underpinnings of civil society, traditionally in ways that promote cohesion or preserve the status quo. Despite this, there has been a long tradition of progressive religious engagement in American civic and political life, including the abolitionist movement, civil rights movement, and anti-nuclear movement. Through an ethnographic examination of six politically progressive religious communities, including two communes and four congregations, I examine how religion is put towards progressive ends. Through this, I develop the concept …

Perceived Social Class, College Interest, And Post-Secondary Goals: An Application Of The Scat Interest And Choice Model, Jason Daniel Hacker

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of perceived social class (PSC) in the educational development of 176 racially and economically diverse high school students. PSC was defined based on the tenants of differential status identity theory (Fouad & Brown, 2000) and then incorporated as a person variable in the interest and choice model of social cognitive career theory (Lent & Brown, 1996; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The study first examined the relation of PSC to students' choice intention to pursue a college degree via cognitive self-evaluations (college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, college interest). Alternatively, PSC …

Feeling Like A Holy Warrior: Western Authors' Attributions Of Emotion As Proof Of Motives For Violence Among Christian Actors In Military Conflicts, Tenth Through Early Twelfth Centuries, Jilana Ordman

Dissertations

This dissertation explores two areas of human experience that have been criticized as potentially dangerous and uncontrollable almost consistently since Late Antiquity: violence and those who engage in it, and emotions. However, it will be seen that in the Western Mediterranean and Southern and Central Western Europe, from Late Antiquity through the early-Twelfth Century, these areas were carefully controlled and directed by complex philosophical and religious systems.

Polytheist Roman, and later patristic Christian, authors who wrote within classical and late antique philosophical and religious systems created the accepted norms for the undertaking of organized violence - that which was fought …

The Politics And Practicalities Of Reentry: A Case Study Of The Reentry Environment In A Suburban Community, Carlene Sipma-Dysico

Dissertations

Although inquiry into reentry has grown significantly in the past decade, studies concerning formerly incarcerated persons entrance back into society tend to look at the outcomes and consequences of reentry, not the process. This "what works and what doesn't work" research approach (Seiter and Kadela 2003) leaves some very important aspects of reentry unexamined. While determining the efficacy of programs designed to reduce recidivism is important for public safety, social policy creation, and budgetary considerations, the role of the community in reentry remains largely unexplored.

This dissertation examines how reentry is done at the community level; by practitioners of reentry, …

A Meta-Analysis Of School Belonging And Academic Success And Persistence, Isabel Moallem

Dissertations

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2012), 7.4 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds in this country were out of school without a GED in 2010. Numerous studies have found evidence that supports the relationship between school belonging and academic achievement and persistence. This dissertation statistically summarizes these studies to better understand this relationship. This study finds evidence to support the existence of a positive small-to-moderate relationship between school belonging and academic achievement. The operationalization of school belonging and the operationalization of academic achievement were found to be partial moderators. Gender and race/ethnicity were not found to be moderators. The …

The Religion Of Consumption And Christian Neighbor Love, Christopher Porter

Dissertations

Loyola University Chicago

THE RELIGION OF CONSUMPTION AND CHRISTIAN NEIGHBOR LOVE

Consumerism is a word frequently used in various disciplines to express the variety of attitudes, motivations, and practices found among the middle and upper classes. It drives the global economy and influences individuals' socio-psychological perceptions. Some have gone so far as to call consumerism a religion, yet they have not substantiated this claim. This dissertation offers a framework that accounts for consumerism as a religion both as a person's ultimate concern and as a structuralized belief system. As such, it prescribes moral values that shape how people respond to …

Policing And Social Influence: Procedural Justice And Compliance Dynamics In The Work Of Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers, Eoin Morrison

Dissertations

This study investigates the role of social influence, in the context of the professional relations between Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers (JLOs), and the young people they work with. Of specific importance is the concept of procedural justice, and its relation to perceptions of legitimacy and compliance dynamics. The aim of the research was to investigate whether the particular interaction patterns, enabled in the context of the JLOs professional role, could be found to have a positive impact upon young people’s levels of compliance with legal authority, in and of themselves. In order to examine this element of lived experience, five …

International Education Exposure In Secondary Schooling: Impacting Academic Outcomes Among Urban Girls Of Color, Tiffini L. Andorful

Dissertations

Existing literature reveals a gap in research on high school students of color studying abroad. Therefore, this study seeks to provide an understanding and explanation of how international educational travel experiences and global education impact the educational outlook of urban high school girls of color. This study proposes that a positive educational outlook including a student's academic engagement, educational aspirations, motivation, perception of the world, and self-efficacy can later generate school persistence and predict high school completion despite the increasing rates of minority female dropouts and the potential effects of race, class, and gender.

Through a qualitative case study and …

Social And Emotional Learning: An Argument For Religious Pluralism, Debra Mayconich Baron

Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to argue that in order for social and emotional learning (SEL) goals to achieve their intended outcomes for students and society, religious pluralism must be reflected in student instruction. SEL involves the use of evidence-based practices to provide opportunities to develop competencies related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making which are intended to enable students to demonstrate morally appropriate actions and ethical decisions, which I am calling "right behavior."

It is my argument that one's understanding of right behavior embodies both implicit and explicit moral beliefs based on one's …

An Investigation Of Chinese Graduate Student Understanding Of Academic Integrity In U'S Higher Education, James E. Hammerschmidt

Dissertations

Recent studies suggest that plagiarism in U.S. higher education may be more of an issue among Chinese graduate students. When Chinese graduate students are accused of plagiarizing an implicit assumption often exists that poor language skills or lack of integrity may be the cause. The failure to consider cross-cultural issues in learning may have led to these views. An examination of previous learning experiences in the Chinese graduate student's home country was needed in order to obtain a deeper understanding of how culture enters into their understanding of academic dishonesty. This study seeks to a.) explore the understanding and meaning …

Ethnicity, Assimilation And Transnationalism: A Comparative Study Of Eastern European Migration To The United States (1940-2012), Cezara Olga Crisan

Dissertations

Cezara Olga Crisan

Loyola University Chicago

ETHNICITY, ASSIMILATION AND TRANSNATIONALISM:

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN MIGRATION

TO THE UNITED STATES (1940-2012)

Transnationalism is a relatively new pattern of migration; the process by which transnationalism has supplanted assimilation has been the subject of this study, and it has been done by comparing the immigration experience of Eastern Europeans, before and after the demise of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe.

The study employed a qualitative methodology with a total of sixty one respondents divided in two groups from Eastern Europe - a "pre-communist wave" and a "post-communist wave" - who …

¿Déjalo Descansar? The Parental Bereavement Experience Of Mexican Migrant Mothers, Illeana Gomez

Dissertations

"Déjalo descansar, no le llores" - "Let them rest, don't cry for them" is an expression Mexican mothers often hear after the death of a child. While accepted as a culturally polite means of expressing condolence, the phrase nonetheless can have a detrimental effect on the parental bereavement experience of these mothers. Through the use of focus groups, 22 Mexican migrant mothers were interviewed to better understand the role that imperatives such as "Déjalo descansar" and other prescribed beliefs, rituals, and customs play in their bereavement experience. From the five focus groups conducted in this qualitative study, participants reported that …

A Case Study Of A Mixed Methods Study Engaged In Integrated Data Analysis, Daniela Marie Schiazza

Dissertations

The nascent field of mixed methods research has yet to develop a cohesive framework of guidelines and procedures for mixed methods data analysis (Greene, 2008). To support the field's development of analytical frameworks, this case study reflects on the development and implementation of a mixed methods study engaged in integrated data analysis. The purpose of this study is to describe how inquiry and methodological components influence integrated data analysis decisions, and to describe the processes and outcomes of engaging in integrated data analysis. The sample for this case study is a mixed methods study that was developed within the context …

Cheerleaders And Performers: Mental Health Courts In A Midwestern State, Monte Staton

Dissertations

"Cheerleaders and Performers: Mental Health Courts in a Midwestern State" by Monte D. Staton

This dissertation presents a statewide study focusing on a recently developed technique for dealing with persons with mental illness in the criminal justice system: mental health court (MHC). This study of nine MHC programs utilized surveys, interviews, and ethnographic observations to examine the work activities and understandings of the criminal justice and mental health professionals who administer and operate the programs in a Midwestern state. Data were analyzed by combining Goffman's dramaturgical analysis with Dorothy E. Smith's institutional ethnography. Findings reveal that MHC professionals engage in …

Organizational Constraints And Supports For Psychosocial Care Of Ethiopian Children At Risk: The Case Of Services In Addis Ababa, Daniel Hailu

Dissertations

The dissertation describes from an institutional perspective psychosocial support services being provided to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Despite the presence of sufficient but fragmented legal, policy and strategic framework, Ethiopia's social protection landscape has suffered from a historic dearth of interventions that address psychosocial risks and vulnerabilities. Over the past decade and half, however, psychosocial support services to OVC have been slowly defused into the Ethiopian society as elements of programming for care and support to the population. Consequently, there currently exists diversity in the types of psychosocial risks and vulnerabilities that interventions prioritize …

John The Baptist And The Jewish Setting Of Matthew, Brian C. Dennert

Dissertations

Although recent discussions on the Gospel of Matthew have emphasized the document's setting within first-century Judaism, these studies have not analyzed how the figure of John the Baptist functions within this setting. The failure to address the significance of the Baptist for the Gospel's Jewish setting is striking because recent study on the historical Baptist has emphasized his ministry and place within first-century Judaism. Therefore, this dissertation places a perennial topic within a new framework, believing that attention to the Jewish setting of the Gospel may prompt fresh observations and explanations of the role of John the Baptist within the …