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Essays On Intrahousehold Allocation And The Family: Fertility, Child Education, And Nutrition, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel

Dissertations

Understanding the constraints that households face when making decisions on fertility, education, and health is beneficial for effective interventions aimed at enhancing investments in human capital, promoting gender equity, and reducing poverty. This dissertation consists of four essays that analyze the nature, performance, and determinants of fertility, child education, and nutritional status in a developing economy.

The first essay identifies peculiar constraints, including gender preference and income uncertainty that households face when making fertility and schooling choices. The underlying assumption in the theoretical analysis is that in the absence of formal risk and capital markets, households may revert to informal …

The Effects Of Acute Nicotine Abstinence On Vigilance And Verbal Memory In Non-Diagnosed Smokers, David W. Ayer

Dissertations

Research has shown a differential prevalence of smoking in the schizophrenic population compared to other psychiatric and non-diagnosed populations. The three most commonly investigated reasons for this differential prevalence in schizophrenics are: the self-medication hypothesis, side effects hypothesis, and sociological hypothesis. The self-medication hypothesis which proposes that schizophrenics smoke at a higher rate to ameliorate cognitive deficits is the most substantiated by the research. Of current interest is the possible role of nicotine in improving performance on vigilance and verbal memory, the two areas shown to be most related to impaired social functioning in schizophrenics. It is difficult to make …

Flights Past: The Wright Brothers’ Legacy And Dayton, Ohio, James Clayton Johnson

Dissertations

During the early twentieth century, Wilbur and Orville Wright faced a lengthy struggle over their recognition as the inventors of the airplane. This controversy still lingers today. Even their hometown, Dayton, Ohio, where the brothers spent years engineering and perfecting the airplane, hesitated in acknowledging their success. Promoted by a small group of individuals from the Smithsonian Institution, a decades long struggle ensued over who first invented an aircraft capable of powered flight. During the "Smithsonian controversy," the institution embarked on a long and dangerous path of using its status as the nation's museum in an attempt to rewrite history. …

Gender Disparity In Nigerian Education: Women’S Experience Of Barriers To Equal Educational Opportunity, Eugene Okoli

Dissertations

Discrepancies between males and females in access to schooling, school completion rates, and participation in employment opportunities are still more the norm in some regions of the world than others. Limited access to education plagues women in Nigeria as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa. Disparity in access to educational opportunity is a pressing gender equity issue in Nigeria (World Bank, 2003).

Relatively few studies have focused on obtaining the viewpoints of women who experience this phenomenon. To hear the voices of these women regarding how they gained or were denied access to education in the Nigerian context, a cross-section of …

Differences In Bachelors Degree Attainment: Are College Degrees A Function Of Habitus?, Colin S. Mccaleb

Dissertations

This study sought evidence that Pierre Bourdieu's habitus influences college graduation and college transferring patterns. Hypothesizing that low socio-economic students have to change their habitus in the elitist environment of higher education, two research questions were advanced to explore this phenomenon, the first asking if there was evidence consistent with the idea that habitus influenced graduation rates, the second question asking if there was evidence consistent with the idea that habitus influenced transferring patterns. Under each research question, several hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Chi square tests of independence, and logistic regressions. Income and civic participation …

St. Louis Charter School History, 1996-2005: A Case Study, Tara Kay Little

Dissertations

This particularistic case study of St. Louis, Missouri charter schools examines the history of the charter school movement in St. Louis from the perspectives of those most closely involved in policy-making and school development, covering the period from the local movement?s inception in 1996 through the first sponsor review year in 2005. Transcribed interviews of ten key participants in the policy development and start-up process, as well as archival data, were thematically coded, deconstructed, triangulated, and reconstructed to form the basis of the history as it is presented in this study. This qualitative study reveals the rich narrative of charter …

Wireless Lan 802.11x In U.S. Educational Institutions: Technology Adoption And Digital Divide Perspective, Sang-Baek (Chris) Kang

Dissertations

The current study of wireless local area networks (WLAN) adoption in educational institutions is motivated by three reasons. First, most students are exposed to information technology when they are at K-12 schools. Indeed, educational institutions represent the largest segment in the WLAN market in the United States in terms of the number of adopters. Second, WLAN requires a substantial financial investment before it can enable an "anytime, anywhere" learning environment, and may thereby aggravate the digital divide between rich and poor schools. Third, although WLAN is infrastructure technology, it has different characteristics compared to other infrastructure information technologies; traditional infrastructure …

A Post-Marxist Perspective On Chuck Palahniuk’S Early Novels And The Four Plays Of Incarcerated, Ron Riekki

Dissertations

Incarcerated: a collection of four plays includes the plays Home Schooling, Good Behavior, 2 Mics, and All Saints' Day. Incarcerated explores Foucault's carceral networking and Althusser's Ideological and Repressive State Apparatuses as exemplified in characters faced with such cataclysmic events as the Holocaust (Home Schooling and All Saints' Day) and the degradation/slavery of the American prison system (Good Behavior and 2 Mics). In this RCG-centered working class playwriting, we see how performativity is in inherent in carceral sociology, where each character in all four plays has to take masks and costumes and roles in order to …

Public Administration Theory And Views Of The Human Person, Gerald L. Zandstra

Dissertations

Public administrative theory, despite its reach into American life, lacks broad agreement about its field of inquiry, its underlying presuppositions, and its purpose. Theorists such as Herbert Storing, Stephen Bailey, Richard Stillman, David Hart, Vincent Ostrom, William Dunn, Bahman Fozouni, Mark Rutgers, Michael Harmon and others have observed and lamented these shortcomings. Without well-developed theory, the objectives of public administration are a moving target.

This project does not attempt to resolve this deficiency. Instead, it is intended to address a primary question pertaining to public administration's core principles: what is the nature of the human person? The line of argumentation …

Work Stress, Non-Work Stress And Mental Health Among School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists: Effects Of Social Support, Lena Gloria Caesar

Dissertations

This study utilized secondary data from the Work and Well-being of SLPs survey (Caesar, 2004) to examine possible sources (predictors) of work stress, job satisfaction, and psychological distress among 409 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in public school settings in Michigan. This study also investigated the relationship of work-related and non-work-related stress to the mental health status of SLPs and sought to determine the mediating and/or moderating effects of varied types of social support on the mental health of respondents. Data analysis was done in three stages. First, each of the dependent and independent variables were described statistically. Secondly, correlation analyses …

Private Narratives In Public Places: The Experiences Of Predominantly White Gay Male Undergraduates On Lgb Classroom Panels, James Patrick Dolan Jr.

Dissertations

The scholarly literature addresses the common practice and effectiveness of using classroom panel presentations by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) speakers to increase awareness of LGB experiences and to change attitudes. However, little is known about the experiences of the speakers themselves or how the experience may affect the speaker's sense of self or identity. From an identity as narrative perspective, the goal of this study was to learn what effect the repeated telling of a coming out story in a public setting may have on the teller's identity, the story they tell, and the meanings and feelings associated with …

A Phenomenological Study Assessing African American Women’S Perspectives On Successful Heterosexual Relationships, Shamika Yolanda Latrell Hall

Dissertations

This study seeks to understand successful African American relationships from the perspective of African American females. Recognizing the impact of structural factors on African Americans, as well as the limits of imposing Eurocentric definitions of successful relationships, this study seeks to understand how African American women themselves describe successful relationships and to identify factors that have influenced their ideas about what is required for them to have healthy, happy, long-lasting, nurturing relationships. Design of the present study is informed by findings from Stephens-Williams' (1992) study of successful African American relationships, as well as a broader review of structural, sociological, and …

The Biographic And Poetic Dimensions In Gary Synder’S Green Buddhism Poetry: Cold Mountain, Mountains And Rivers Without End, And Danger On Peaks, Byoungkook Park

Dissertations

From the perspective of ecology, many scholars have examined works of Gary Synder, who is an environmental activist, a peasant-Buddhist, and one of the most beloved and significant poets in the East and West. While his poems have been widely read, they have been rarely articulated from the perspective of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism or, which I would call, Green Buddhism. Considering this, my dissertation focuses on Snyder's Green Buddhism poetry and delineates the concept of Green Buddhism and how it has emerged in his Green Buddhism poetry over the past fifty years. According to my research, his poetic dimensions …

Community College Retention: The Role Of Late Registration Policies, Kay L. Keck

Dissertations

The study provided for a clearer understanding of the impact of late registration on community college retention and student persistence. Of particular interest were the results of the examination of the course-specific side of late registration. The most significant findings of this study were: (1) Students who registered and began a course on time had a greater likelihood to successfully complete the course. The consequences students associated with late registration included missing critical first class day information and feeling rushed and unprepared to begin the class; (2) A majority of late registrants were successful in the late registered course, and …

Evaluation Of Researchers And Their Research: Toward Making The Implicit Explicit, Chris L. S. Coryn

Dissertations

Due to its very nature, the evaluation of research permeates nearly every aspect of the work of researchers. They evaluate the work of others or have their own work evaluated. They evaluate hypotheses that come to mind, the previous literature, the quality of data, the explanatory power of theories, or the design of experiments or instruments. And this is not always casual evaluation. It is highly skilled evaluation, and becoming a first-rate or world-class researcher is a process of improving the quality of these evaluations. However, deciding when someone is or has become a first-rate or world-class researcher is an …

Families Moving Forward: Homeless Women With Children Transitioning To Independent Living, Kristin Elizabeth Hoyt Phd

Dissertations

Family homelessness is one of the most profound and disturbing social problems of the 21st century and is projected to remain an ongoing issue for the United States in upcoming years. The fastest growing segment in the homeless population continues to be families, specifically single women with children. One intervention to the problem of homeless women with children is by providing them with transitional housing, a step beyond the familiar short-term emergency shelter. Transitional housing typically shelters families for up to 2 years. During this extended stay, women participate in programs designed to assist them with addiction, mental health, domestic …

A Qualitative Study Of Women Therapists’ Experiences Of Spirituality In The Counseling Process, Sharon A. Carney

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Thereby Become A Monster: Complex Organizations And The Torture At Abu Ghraib, Janine A. Bower

Dissertations

Reasearch and theory on organizational crime and deviance suggest organizational offending includes aspects of the environment, organizational characteristics (such as tasks, structure, and processes), and cognition, and is systematically produced by the combination of these three. This research is an examination of the organization of the Abu Ghraib detention and interrogation facility in Iraq, the location of prison abuses now made infamous following their public disclosure in 2004. An ethnographic content analysis of documents was performed to probe organizational culture, structure and processes, and their intersection with individual biographies and contextual forces. While public questions focused on why seemingly ordinary …

Struggling With Race: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Developing Of Awareness Of Racism, Shawn Victoria Macdonald

Dissertations

White counselors and psychologists need to have a strong understanding of racism and white privilege for effective therapeutic work with people of color. However, many white counselors struggle in various ways with multicultural training. The phenomenon of white counselors in training struggling with awareness of racism and white privilege is well-recognized but not fully understood.

A constructivist grounded theory study was conducted to explore the phenomena of "struggle" among white counselors in training who were engaged in multicultural training. 33 interviews were conducted with 17 participants who were students in master's and doctoral level counseling, counseling psychology, and related programs. …

Integrating Total Disability Management In A Climate Of Change: A Case Study, Mary E. Jesko Edd

Dissertations

Integrated disability management (IDM) is a cost-containment strategy increasingly being employed by human resources and risk management departments to address occupational and non-occupational illness and injury in a consistent manner. The goal is to both reduce on-the-job injury and minimize the loss of work time due to injury or illness. Although a large number of organizations have embraced the IDM concept, implementing IDM often is difficult because of the complex array of contracts, policies, procedures, corporate cultures and structures. Although extensive research has examined leaders' influence on change in various types of businesses, to date, research has not specifically explored …

Experiences Of Sacramental Marriage, James Patrick O'Brien Edd

Dissertations

This study interprets the stories told by eight couples about their experiences approaching marriage as a religious sacrament. The eight couples represented a purposeful sample selected using the following criteria: (a) They self-identified as having a sacramental marriage within the Roman Catholic tradition; (b) they appeared to be information rich sources who could provide an emic, i.e., an insider, view of the sacramental marriage experience; (c) they participated in the Catholic Cursillo movement; (d) they engaged in observable religious practices; and (e) they parented children. Research methods included guided conversation, participant observation, and a timeline activity that asked participants to …

Emerging Elements Of Leadership In A Complex System: A Cognitivist Approach, Kirsten Suzanne Hanson Edd

Dissertations

As our world grows increasingly complicated at an intensified pace, leaders must be facile managers of complexity if organizations and society are to productively and peacefully evolve. Today’s global corporations are microcosms of complexity and have the potential to affect life for almost all other species. However, many organizations have not yet become aware of themselves as “living” and still operate as industrial age institutions with rationalist thinking traditionally dominating management practice. Many factors impact an organization’s overall effectiveness. Yet, executive leaders are seen as having the ability to influence change and play a vital role in helping people navigate …

Fabricating Freddy Vs. Jason: Understanding A Motion Picture As A Social Encounter Between Fans And Filmmakers, Jason M. Rapelje

Dissertations

The break in the mass communicative chain, which separates producers and receivers from one another in both time and space, impedes researchers from studying motion pictures as social encounters. As with face-to-face encounters, producers and receivers of motion pictures depend upon the use of "rules of relevance" (Goffman, 1961) and "typifactory schemes" (Berger & Luckmann, 1966) for their encounters to take place. I examine the social encounter that takes place between some of the filmmakers and fans of Freddy vs Jason through the use of these concepts, as well as a revision of John B. Thompson's (1990) methodological framework of …

Democracy On Stilts: Bolivia’S Democracy From Stability To Crisis, Miguel Centellas

Dissertations

Bolivia’s recent political crisis starkly contrasts to the preceding two decades of relative democratic stability. Though a unique system of “parliamentarized” presidentialism together with lingering consensus on the national project inherited from the 1952 Revolution supported democratic stability, using qualitative and quantitative methods, this study shows that seemingly benign changes in institutional design made in the 1990s contributed to the acceleration of already existing tendencies towards divisive sectoral, regional, and ethnic politics. A key observation is that successful long-term democratization requires institutions for adequately channeling and representing social demands as well as a shared vision of a political “imagined community” …

The Effects Of Post-Secondary Education On State Troopers’ Job Performance, Stress Levels, And Authoritarian Attitudes, Carl J. Lafata

Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the effects of post-secondary education on police officers' job performance, stress levels, and levels of authoritarianism as measured by Altemeyer's (1996) Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale questionnaire. It involved the analysis of data voluntarily and anonymously submitted via an internet-based survey by 356 of the Michigan State Police's approximately 1,800 enlisted members (those members who are state-certified police officers), along with information collected from informal personal interviews held with a select group of seven of the department's senior leaders. Subsequent analysis of the collected quantitative data revealed no statistical support for the project's first two hypotheses, …

Symptom Burden At End Of Life In Patients With Terminal And Life-Threatening Illness In Intensive Care Units, Peggy G. Kalowes Phd, Msn, Rn, Cns

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the symptom burden and severity of symptom distress reported by ICU patients at high-risk for death and to compare patient-rated symptoms and distress for concordance with symptoms reported by a family member. A prospective, correlational design with two data-points was used to study a convenience sample of 80 patients and 53 family members. The Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (CMSAS) was used to gain patient/proxy report of symptoms on the first and third day after admission to the ICU. The majority of patients were symptomatic (98%), reporting an average of 10.23 symptoms. …

Organizational Orientations Of K-12 School Leaders In The Columbia Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Rose Tooley Gamblin

Dissertations

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational orientations--structure ,human resource, political, and symbolic --of the K-12 school leaders in the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and the relationship, if any, to their personal variables of age, gender, experience, and their professional variables of grade levels served, educational attainment, enrollment, support, feelings of success, and job satisfaction.

Method

A self-administered Organizational Orientations survey instrument, based on the multiple orientation framework of Bolman and Deal, was used to gather information about the school leaders. The population surveyed provided 56 usable responses, which were analyzed …

Hospitality Versus Patronage: An Investigation Of Social Dynamics In The Third Epistle Of John, Igor Lorencin

Dissertations

Problem. This investigation focuses on social dynamics in the third epistle of John. In the context of 3 John hospitality and patronage seem to be opposed as two non-compatible models of behavior. In what sense they are different and what makes them non compatible in a church setting is the main focus of this research.

Method. A social approach is utilized in this investigation for the purpose of understanding the social system, values, and circumstances that shaped the events of 3 John. I first collect evidence to explain the ancient customs of hospitality and patronage in order to create a …

Teacher Success, Assessment, And Evaluation Practices In Service-Learning Composition Courses, Faith-Ann Abiola Mcgarrell

Dissertations

Problem. Over the last 15 years, service-learning in first-year composition has emerged as a critical area of study. Service-learning in composition places students in writing environments within the community, encourages reading and writing about social issues, and provides the opportunity for students to participate in community projects. A significant problem with this approach is the alignment between outcomes of the discipline and those of service. Practitioners feel that a clear understanding of compatibility between the two areas of study would result in better practice and further buy-in by those who do not teach from a service-learning perspective.

Method. In service-learning …

The Iron Age I Structure On Mount Ebal: Excavation And Interpretation, Ralph K. Hawkins

Dissertations

Problem. The Iron Age I site on Mt. Ebal, discovered in 1980 by Adam Zertal and excavated between 1982 and 1989, has remained largely unknown by both the scholarly community and the public. No scholarly congress or colloquium has ever been held regarding the Mt. Ebal excavations. The Mt. Ebal excavations, however, may have important implications for reconstructing Israelite origins. This present study investigates the Mt. Ebal excavationand its results.

Method. My study uses the comparative method and is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 serves as in introduction, giving an overview of the investigation to be carried out in …