Digital Commons Network^™

Implementing Total Quality Management In A College Of Business, Jeffrey William Glazer Edd

Dissertations

Today, a wide range of organizations are involved in what is commonly referred to as total quality management (TQM). Implementation and associated research have primarily been focused in the business community; however, over the past decade, faced with dwindling enrollment and increased competition, the educational community has also started to embrace TQM at differing levels in a wide variety of settings across the nation, ranging from doctoral granting institutions to community colleges to elementary schools. This descriptive case study examined the implementation of a TQM process at a College of Business in a large state university on the west coast. …

The Leadership Of A Superintendent: Putting The California School Reform Movement To Work, Jennifer L. Jeffries Edd

Dissertations

Public education has been engulfed in a dramatic and turbulent time. In California, the drive for improvement in public education was codified in Senate Bill 813, passed in 1983. Each school district wrestled with the intent and the mandates of this massive reform document. During the implementation stage of this legislation, the organizational climate in school districts was ripe for leaders and followers to engage each other in dialogue and debate about the direction and form the legislation would take. This dialogue and debate rendered policies in response to the legislative mandates. Senate Bill 813 provided opportunities to promote and …

Barriers To Community: The Development Of An Instrument To Assess Components Of Prejudice, Anita M. Rogers Edd

Dissertations

Contemporary theory and practice defines leadership as a collaborative effort, based in community, and purposefully guided by a mutual vision of freedom, justice and equality. Prejudice, as a preset of negative beliefs and behaviors toward a person or a group is a primary barrier to the transformational process of team-building and formation of community. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the effectiveness of training and educational interventions through further understanding of the origins and aspects of prejudice which act as barriers to community. The Retroductive Triangulation process served as a guiding methodology for the development of a …

A Model Part-Time Bachelor's Degree Program For Adults At California Public Research Institutions, Karen Jil Warn Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the opportunities available to adults for continuing their education part-time to complete a Bachelor's degree and to assess a California research institution's perception of part-time study. Adult student enrollments in postsecondary education have increased 114 percent between 1970 and 1985. Part-time student enrollments rose nearly 87 percent during the same time frame and part-time students now comprise approximately 42 percent of the enrollment in postsecondary education. California research institutions are typically still providing services for the traditional day-time student. There is a persistent resistance to change by faculty. Changing the way the …

The Influence Of Glasser's Control Theory And Reality Therapy On Educators: A Case Study, Debra Cullinane Edd

Dissertations

The influence of Glasser's control theory and reality therapy on educators' perceptions of change, relationships and self reflection has to date not been researched. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the influence that control theory and reality therapy training had on educators in one school district. A case study method was chosen because of its descriptive and evaluative strength in educational settings, its qualitative character and its flexibility. All educators currently employed who had participated in one week of training or more were sent a fifteen item survey. From the group of 100 who received the …

Meeting Graduate Student Needs Through Alternative Programs: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Factors Related To Student Choice, Debra Jill Wright Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the design and initiation of alternative graduate programs and their impact on student needs, to examine the university organizational structure and environment that fosters the development of alternative graduate programs, and to identify the factors graduate students see as important in their choice to attend and participate in an alternative graduate program. The intent of the research was to rank the factors significant in the design of a graduate program to meet the factors meaningful to the student in meeting their needs related to graduate programs. The content of the survey instrument …

An Assessment Of Vocational Technical Education Students' Literacy Levels And Awareness Of Employer Expectations, Toni Woolfork

Dissertations

This is a correlational study designed to determine the readiness of high school students to pursue employment upon graduation. The study consisted of 137 subjects in grades 10-12, enrolled in 11 vocational education classes within the Kalamazoo Public School System in Kalamazoo County. Subjects were administered both a literacy instrument designed to measure literacy levels; and a self-awareness inventory, designed to obtain demographic information and to assess each subject’s knowledge or awareness of employer expectations as well as skills necessary for the workplace. Each teacher also complemented an inventory, which allowed the researcher to determine the similarities between subject’s and …

A Study Of The Thematic Integrated Curriculum (Tic) Of The Focus 2000 Program, Sherry Collins

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to describe how a thematic integrated curriculum (TIC) enhances the quality of education by examining three outcomes of a TIC. These outcomes are: (1) the instruction of critical thinking skills, (2) the motivation of students to be self-directed and assume responsibility for their own learning, and (3) the empowerment of teachers to become educational leaders. The underlying assumption of the study was that the more the three outcomes are used in the learning process, the better will be the quality of education.

For this study, the process of "enhancing the quality of education" …

Comparative Effectiveness Of Therapeutic Strategies On Drug Knowledge And Drug Attitude In Inpatient Psychiatric Substance Abuse Population, Amber Haque

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of instructional strategies on the change of knowledge and attitude scores in mentally ill subjects with a history of substance abuse. Twenty subjects from a state psychiatric hospital were randomly divided into one control and three experimental groups. The study period was ten weeks with each session lasting forty five minutes, twice per week. Subjects studied issues relating to drug abuse outside scheduled sessions as they pleased. Pre- and post-test scores were measured by a drug abuse questionnaire developed at the Pennsylvania State University. Hypotheses formed were: (a) drug education improves knowledge and attitude in …

The Effects Of Disclosure Of Comprehensive Pretherapy Information On Clients' Behaviors And Perceptions Of Therapists And The Therapy Process, Patricia J. Dauser

Dissertations

An experimental study of the effects of comprehensive versus partial pretherapy disclosure was conducted. Sixty-three clients in a university counseling center participated. The control and treatment groups received information on four pretherapy issues. Those issues were services provided, confidentiality, length of sessions, and right to terminate therapy. The treatment group received additional information which included personalized data regarding therapists, what to expect in therapy, and risks and alternatives to therapy. The study examined the effects of the comprehensive information received by the treatment group versus the partial information received by the control group on (a) perceptions of therapists, (b) opinions …

A Comparative Study Of Primary Preventive Behaviors And Secondary Preventive Behaviors Among Michigan Adults, Jing Chang

Dissertations

Many researchers have documented the range and extent of the health preventive behaviors. However, previous studies have generally focused on either the contact with medical professionals (secondary preventive care) or compliance with their recommendations (primary preventive care). Some have treated the two types of behaviors as one and related them to social demographic characteristics and socio-structural conditions (e.g., access to medical service). There have been very few studies that have compared the two sets of preventive behaviors. This study takes a first step to explore the correlates of secondary preventive activities and compare them with the correlates of primary preventive …

Transformational Leadership: The Relationship Between Consciousness, Values, And Skills, John E . Schmidt

Dissertations

Leadership is one of the most important, yet least understood, phenomena on earth. Many researchers have investigated leadership traits, activities, behaviors, and processes; yet, until B u m s (1978), few researchers distinguished between leadership that is "transactional" and leadership that is "transformational." Transformational leadership, says Bums, occurs "when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality" (p. 20) .

Since Bums, few studies of transformational leadership have examined leaders who appeal to higher values or leaders who challenge individuals, organizations, and societies …

The Efficacy Of Eye Movement Desensitization In The Treatment Of Trauma Related Imagery And Cognitions: A Partial Dismantling Procedure, George S. Renfrey

Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of eye movement desensitization (EMD) on post-traumatic sequelae, and attempted a partial dismantling of the procedure to determine the necessity of EMD's characteristic eye movements. Twenty-three persons participated in three groups: (1) those receiving standard EMD, (2) those receiving a variant of EMD in which eye movements were engendered through a light tracking task, and (3) those receiving a variant of EMD in which fixed visual attention replaced eye movements. All participants had experienced traumata as defined by the DSM-III-R and were having intrusive symptoms of PTSD at pre-treatment. All but two met full DSM-II-R …

The Relationship Between Dependency, Gender, And Personality Style As It Impacts Adolescent Inpatient Depression, Cathy L. Kubik

Dissertations

The role of dependent personality traits in increased vulnerability to depression has been studied extensively. However,this issue remains controversial, and limited research has been done involving adolescent inpatients. In addition, limited research has been done regarding the possible interaction effects of gender and level of dependency upon depression and specific depressive symptoms in an adolescent inpatient population.

symptoms in an adolescent inpatient population. In this study, 92 inpatient adolescents from a private, not-for-profit psychiatric hospital had completed both the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (Millon, 1976, 1982), and the Multiscore Depression Inventory (Berndt, 1986).

One group consisted of 46 adolescents who …

Symbol Sense And Its Development In Two Computer Algebra System Environments, Brian A. Keller

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to: (a) explicate the nature of symbol sense, (b) determine the differential effects of two computer algebra system (CAS) environments on students' development of symbol sense, (c) explore differences in symbol sense among students using a CAS and students not using a CAS, and (d) examine students' achievement in calculus with and without the use of a CAS.

Six sections of first-semester calculus at Western Michigan University during the 1992-93 academic year were used in the study. The investigator taught two CAS sections both semesters (n = 41, 34 Fall and n = 35, …

Adolescent Substance Use Patterns: Testing A Multidimensional Sociogenic Model, Eric O. Johnson

Dissertations

This dissertation begins with the understanding that behavior is a product of a variegated and complex web of social factors. Bringing this approach to the subfield of adolescent substance use, both substance use itself (alcohol, cigarettes and a broad range of illicit drugs) and the factors that influence such use are viewed as existing within the complex of demographic/structural, social contextual, attitudinal, and behavioral layers of adolescents' social worlds.

The Patterns of Adolescent Substance Use Typology, developed by Stanley S. Robin and me (1992a), is used to categories the overall level and kind of substance use, over time, that adolescents …

The Efficacy Of Prepared Videoprograms And Personal Conferences In Parent Education For Language Intervention, Candis M. Warner

Dissertations

This study was undertaken to examine the effectiveness of using prepared videoprograms and personal conferences to educate parents in the use of indirect language stimulation techniques with children who have delays in speech and language development. The efficacy of three methods to teach mothers to use facilitative communicative behaviors with their children was assessed by analyzing tape recorded language samples of 6 0 mothers conversing with their preschool children before and after their participation in one of three treatm ent conditions. The three treatm ents in the study were: (1) viewing the 30-m inute videoprogram, Let's Talk: First Steps to …

The Link Between Psychosocial Factors And Coronary Heart Disease: A Possible Neuroendocrine Mechanism, Sheila Wang

Dissertations

Coronary heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the affluent world. Despite identification of several risk factors for coronary heart disease (age, sex, lipoprotein profile, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, obesity), a significant amount of variability associated with the incidence of coronary heart disease cannot be explained solely on the basis of these risk factors. The contribution of psychosocial factors to the development of coronary heart disease (type A behavior, social isolation, traumatic events, unstable social conditions) continues to be a promising area of investigation. However, a biochemical pathway linking psychosocial factors to coronary heart disease remains …

Using Technology For Dispensing Information, Ray Hoag

Dissertations

Technology that enhances communication through the use of digitized media abounds. Yet, there is a perception that education does not use technology's full potential to communicate with its audience. This dissertation demonstrates that a technological solution can communicate relevant educational information. Extensive documentation provides a high level departure point for subsequent technology enhanced communication projects.

The planning team for the Applied Technology Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, wanted an application to express the center's name-implied mission. This opportunity was fulfilled by the development of a point-of-information kiosk application, the dissertation's focal point. Methodology included using project management software to identify …

The Effect Of A Transition Class (Developmental Kindergarten) On Academic Parity, Douglas S. Mccall

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not those students who had participated in a developmental kindergarten program. Young Fives, had attained academic parity with their age mates who had not participated in the program.

The target population of this study was 245 students who were kindergarten age in 1988 and attended school in a rural school district in southwestern Michigan. The accessible population was 141 of the original 245 students.

The total battery grade equivalent test scores achieved on the California Achievement Test by the 141 students were analyzed using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and …

A Comparative Study Of The Coping Ability Of Mobile And Nonmobile Elementary Pupils, Solomon Mokone Lebese

Dissertations

Frequent moves by parents of elementary-aged children can cause these children a considerable amount of stress, thus creating adjustment problems and straining their coping abilities to the limits. How do these children cope with such problems compared to those who do not move frequently?

The above question was the focus of investigation to determine whether or not there was a difference between the mobile (children whose parents have moved at least once in the past 3 years) and nonmobile (children whose parents have not moved from a particular school district in the past 3 years) elementary children in the way …

Productivity And Perceived Work Environment Of Work Groups In Poland, Donald L. Gusfa

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relation between levels of productivity and perceptions of autonomy among similar work groups. The analysis of data obtained did not support a tendency for perceptions of high autonomy among workers to be directly related to high levels of productivity. Data were obtained from workers at six carbide tool manufacturing plants in Poland who were administered the Work Environment Scale (WES) Form R (Moos, 1981) to measure perception of autonomy. The data were collected in February 1991. Analysis of the WES data used the Kendall tau test to investigate the relation …

Management Of Dairy Farm Wastewater – A Case Study, Saed Mohamed Al Awadi

Dissertations

There are several dairy farms and milk processing plants in U.A.E. which contribute to the problem of industrial wastewater discharges in the country. This study emphasized the waste management aspects of dairy farms and examined the wastewater characteristics, wastewater treatment and effluent reuse in Al-Rawabi Dairy Plant in Dubai as a case study.

An extensive sampling and analysis program was conducted over a period of one year to determine wastewater characteristics at Al-Rawabi Dairy Plant. It has been found that the wastewater COD, BOD, Solids, Nitrogen and Phosphorus content is relatively high but daily variations in pollution loads were not …

The Maintenance Of Statistical Process Control (Spc) With Organizational Behavior Management (Obm) Techniques, Pollis Robertson

Dissertations

Many organizations have implemented statistical process control (SPC) programs in response to demands in the marketplace for high-quality products that are efficiently built. Many of these organizations have been unhappy with the difficulty of getting their statistical process (SPC) control programs started and the long-term economic success of these programs.

This study systematically investigated for two years various components of statistical process control programs and attempted to enhance economic effectiveness by buttressing SPC methods with Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) techniques. This study was conducted in a Gray Ductile Iron Foundry that employed 87 employees.

Positive results were observed when OBM …

Adaptive Leadership Style And Sales Performance: A Test Of The Social Style Model, Frank M. Gambino

Dissertations

The Social Style Model served as the central theoretical framework of this study. The purpose of this study was twofold:

1. To assess whether performance evaluations of salespeople are related (a) to their social styles, (b) to the social styles of the sales managers who supervise their work, or (c) to the differences between their social styles and the styles of their sales supervisors.

2. To test the assumption that self-evaluations of social style are often significantly different from evaluations supplied by others who are familiar with a person’s behavior.

Two types of empirical data were collected: <1) measures of three social style variables—assertiveness, responsiveness, and versatility—for salespeople and sales supervisors, and (2) measures of salespeople’s overall job performance. Job performance was assessed using both self-ratings and supervisory ratings on five constructs of sales performance: (1) ability to meet sales objectives, (2) technical knowledge and application of that knowledge, (3) control of company expenses, (4) information processing, and (5) presentation skills. Social style was assessed using self-, peer and supervisory ratings.

Mail surveys were …

An Examination Of Depression In A Subclinical Eating Disorder Female Population, Christine Hill-Melton

Dissertations

This study examined depression and disordered eating symptoms in a population at high risk for the development of eating disorders. The level and prevalence of depression were compared between three groups of women with increasing severity of eating disordered symptoms.

Female undergraduate college students enrolled in psychology courses at four small colleges and one mid-sized university in Michigan completed a Biographical Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and an Eating Assessment Rating Scale (EARS). Participants were placed into one of three groups according to severity of disordered eating symptoms based on their responses on the EARS. The three groups were: …

Satisfaction In Lesbian Relationships As Compared To The Qualities Of Mutuality, Cohesion, And Merging, Patricia R. Murray

Dissertations

Recently theorists have examined women's development as relational. The ability to use empathy, the value of mutuality, and a flexible boundary structure are components, which lead to psychological growth and emphasize the importance of relating within the relationship. Lesbian relationships are likely to be highly relational, as they consist of two women relating in an intimate way. Research regarding satisfaction in lesbian relationships has been sparse; satisfaction has been correlated with mutuality, intimacy, and dyadic attachment. Other variables such as an equal power balance, commitment, and cohesion have also been positively related to satisfaction. The purpose of the present study …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Barriers To Implementing Shared Decision-Making In Wisconsin Schools, Donald John Viegut

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was (a) to investigate if differences exist in stakeholder perceptions of barriers to implementing shared decision-making (SDM), and (b) to investigate if differences exist in stakeholder perceptions across the following constructs of shared decision- making: empowerment, leadership, motivation, organizational culture, accountability, and learning organizations. Randomly selected members from the stakeholder categories of: parents, board of education members, superintendents, principals, and teachers, were the sample (N = 100). Stakeholder perception was compared on a composite score of the survey instrument. Perceptions were also compared across the six constructs of SDM for each of the stakeholder categories. …

Deposition Of Particles In A Convergent Channel, Hsi-Chung Chiou

Dissertations

The deposition of suspensions for uniform flow in convergent channels under the combined influences of inertia, viscous, gravity and electrostatic image forces were studied theoretically. A two dimensional, steady, incompressible, laminar flow with uniform velocity profile was assumed.

It was found that when the ratio of charge parameter to gravity parameter, Q/G, is greater than 5, the deposition is dominated by the electrostatic image force alone and that the gravity effect can be neglected. When the ratio of charge parameter to gravity parameter, Q/G, is less than 0.001, the image force can then be neglected. It was also observed that …

Methodology For Modeling High Performance Distributed And Parallel Systems, Rakesh Kushwaha

Dissertations

Performance modeling of distributed and parallel systems is of considerable importance to the high performance computing community. To achieve high performance, proper task or process assignment and data or file allocation among processing sites is essential. This dissertation describes an elegant approach to model distributed and parallel systems, which combines the optimal static solutions for data allocation with dynamic policies for task assignment. A performance-efficient system model is developed using analytical tools and techniques.

The system model is accomplished in three steps. First, the basic client-server model which allows only data transfer is evaluated. A prediction and evaluation method is …