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Fostering Forgiveness Through The Reach Forgiveness Model To Dispel The Angry Black Woman Trope, Demetrius Tamantha Golden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For generations, the African American community has felt lingering reminders of the oppression of their ancestors. Consequently, this oppression may have inhibited forgiveness or the ability to forgive. Unforgiveness can be expressed in many forms, but most commonly as anger, bitterness, and rage. The American culture depicts the African American woman in the media as an “Angry Black Woman,” neglecting her existence as a pillar to her family and community and the stressors that accompany this role. Research is lacking around forgiveness models using the population of African American women. The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the …

An Analysis Of The Disenfranchised Grief Of Involuntary Childless Women, Neressa Darroux

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In society the grief associated with involuntary childlessness is often overlooked, minimized, and ignored. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the disenfranchised grief of involuntary childless women using the theoretical framework of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief to show how involuntary childlessness is an invisible loss that produces grief which is oftentimes invalidated. This study was guided by three research questions: (a) what is the lived experience of grief of involuntary childless women, (b) how can involuntary childless women grieve their losses in an environment where they experience disenfranchised grief, and (c) how do involuntary childless women make meaning of their …

The Ems Deficit: A Study On The Excessive Staffing Shortages Of Paramedics And Its Impact On Ems Performance In The States Of South Carolina And North Carolina And Interventions For Organizational Improvements., James Boyd Eubanks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This is a qualitative multi-case study on emergency medical services (EMS) paramedic shortages, their effects on ambulance responses, and the quality of patient care in the prehospital environment. A qualitative multi-case study was selected for this study because the nature of the methods’ design aligned with a systematic approach of life experiences (Creswell, 2015). Paramedics who participated in this study provided insight, from life experiences, as to why one prematurely leaves EMS; thus, creating a staffing shortage. The foundation of this study is the high staffing shortages of paramedics specifically in South Carolina (SC) and North Carolina (NC). Drastically reducing …

A Single Woman’S Concerns And Struggles: Reversing The Perception Of Exclusion In The Church In The Twenty-First Century And Beyond, Bernadine C. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis research project seeks to offer the readers of the project solutions to changing perceptions while improving single women's experiences as critical community members and the local church in the twenty-first century and beyond. This study will employ mixed methods analysis using both qualitative and quantitative data. The project includes a survey by single individuals between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five or older via email. Participants will complete a thirty-two-question survey characterizing exclusionary practices in the church processes, leading to the perception of exclusion revolving around family relationships. The results of this study may allow for the positive …

Big Bath Earnings Management In Accounting, Shannon Danysh-Hashemi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the potential use of big bath earnings management (BBEM) techniques in the leisure and travel industries during the pandemic of 2020. Data is collected through Compustat and Mergent Online databases and then merged for analysis using SPSS 27. First, the preliminary t-test shows the possibility of the firms in these industries to have conducted BBEM. After, modified Jone's model is used to distinguish discretionary from non-discretionary accruals. Using multiple regression analysis, three hypotheses are tested to discover whether the year of the pandemic, political costs, and executive compensation had any significant effect on the use of discretionary …

Time For A Change? The Lived Experiences Of Abortion Workers Who Left The Industry, Susan Marie Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain insight and understanding into the lived experiences of those who have worked in a medical facility or freestanding clinic providing abortion services and eventually chose to leave the industry due to moral distress. Two research questions are addressed in this study: What is the lived experience of former abortion workers who left the field due to moral distress both before and after their transition from the industry? And, What were (and are) the perceived bio-psycho-social-spiritual impacts of abortion work for those who ultimately left the field due to moral distress? A …

How Homeschooling Happens: A Phenomenological Study Of Educational Practices In The Home Education Setting, Bridgette Whitlow-Spurlock

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to examine the educational processes and expand the personalized education theory of gifted and twice-exceptional homeschooling through the lived experiences of home educators at the international level via internet communications. Two theories guided this study. The first was the personalized education theory of gifted and twice-exceptional homeschooling, as it is part of the central focus in expanding the theory to new populations and could provide insight into parents’ experiences in designing their children’s homeschool environment. Secondly, the social cognitive theory was integrated within the findings. The central question guiding this study was: …

Using Bible Reading In Moral Injury Therapy: A Mixed-Method Approach, John Ikenna Onuoha

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The debilitating effect of moral injury on members of the Sergeant Major Association of California in the Bay Area/Central Valley/Los Angeles area has deprived member veterans of a good and meaningful quality of life. This study aims to recognize the challenging impact of moral injury on adult Bay Area/Central Valley/LA veterans, address its symptoms using Bible reading therapy, and reassess their progress for an effective and lasting solution to veterans who are battling with war’s unseen wounds. The study used mixed research methods that incorporate the technical and social features of the combination of qualitative and quantitative means to help …

Refugee Perceptions Of Post-Migratory Stressors Impact On Pre-Existing Trauma, Christine Elizabeth Krauter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Refugees are an ever-growing population across the world. Refugees leave their country to survive from the horrors and traumas many experiences. They arrive in countries oftentimes with little to no language proficiency, housing, finances, or employment. The stressors many of them face mixed with the trauma they experienced pre-arrival can be a heavy burden to carry. The purpose of this case study is to understand the perceptions of post-migratory stressors impact on pre-existing trauma for refugees at Matthew House in Vancouver, Canada. A constructivist approach is taken since the focus is on the situation from the participants’ point of views …

Leaving The Faith: Factors That Lead To Emerging Adult Apostasy, Sammie Davis-Dyson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The present qualitative study used the transcendental phenomenological model. It investigated the three parenting factors of modeling, style, and attachment and their impact on emerging adult decisions to leave the Christian faith of their upbringing. Six participants, ages 21-25, male and female, white or Hispanic college students yielded information demonstrating that the parenting factors mutually interacted with one another. If the parent or parents had a positive impact in the modeling factor, the same was true for attachment and style. A fourth focal point was whether the emerging young adult would seek out a community of faith of his or …

Video Collaboration: Copresence And Performance, Thomas James Zito Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative narrative theory study on video collaboration platform use is to explain how an individual's on-screen performance and their interpersonal verbal and nonverbal communication contributes to engagement and copresence with their audience. The literature review analyzes critical interpersonal communication theories to explain how this affects engagement and copresence levels in mediated virtual environments. The research was conducted through interviews with thirty professional businesspeople about their video collaboration experiences during the COVID-19 2020 shutdown. The interview respondents told the stories of business communication successes and failures that correspond to the scholarly theories in the literature review. The …

Determining The Effectiveness Of Nonpharmacological Treatment Modalities For Adult Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: An Integrative Review, Sydia Nichole Spence

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Chronic low back pain continues to be a major health issue, affecting a significant percentage of the population worldwide. It is one of the major contributors to long-term disability. People with ongoing and recurrent low back pain experience lowered quality of life, long-term disability, lost productivity, and medical costs due to urgent and emergency care visits. Pharmacological treatment modalities often present with serious safety concerns, ineffectiveness due to limited evidence-based studies, undesirable side effects, and the possibility of addiction. Therefore, many clinicians and patients seek alternative approaches to remedy persistent low back pain. Various nonpharmacological therapies have shown favorable results …

Participation In Collision, Contact, And Noncontact Sports And Academic Outcomes At A United States Service Academy, Benjamin Thomas Showman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The present study seeks to determine whether significant differences exist in the academic outcomes, specifically grade point averages (GPA), between college students who participate in collision, contact, or noncontact sports. Additionally, this study seeks to understand whether sport contact levels are predictive of a student’s GPA when sport competition levels and demographic variables are also taken into account. Current research suggests links between sports participation, aggression, brain injuries, and academic outcomes. Along these lines, a significant amount of research has investigated relationships between student aggression and academic outcomes, between aggression and sport contact levels, and between sports participation and academic …

Tiktok Cyberbully Responses: Communicating The Narrative, Wendy Sommer Zito

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed TikTok cyberbullying response videos to understand how content creators use verbal and nonverbal communication within their performance, creating audience engagement and awareness for cyberbullying and social advocacy issues. This study was conducted with 200 TikTok creator accounts analyzing communication, performance, engagement, and analytics narrative content analysis. Codes were separated into themes that represented the creator's emotional responses. These responses were analyzed to learn how the audience presented the content. The combination of narrative content analysis and analytics data was used to determine the effectiveness of the creators' ability to engage with their audience and create cyberbullying and …

Understanding Combat Veterans And Their Social Supporters’ Experiences Related To Trauma And Combat Veteran Suicide: A Qualitative Case Study, Martisa V. Bullock

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand combat veterans and their social supporters’ experiences related to trauma and mitigating combat veteran suicide. The research questions were: What are combat veterans and their social supporters’ understandings and experiences related to trauma? What do combat veterans and their social supporters identify as significant aspects of support in mitigating suicidal ideation and suicide? The theories guiding this study were interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and the psychache theory as these theories address the connections between suicidal thought processes and the trauma that contributes to them. This multiple case study consisted of …

Early Intervention And Prediction Of Risk Management Issues In Law Enforcement: A Phenomenological Study, Pamela Lynn Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to research the Early Intervention Systems (EIS) and prediction of risk management issues in law enforcement. The following questions guided the study:

1. How do law enforcement personnel describe their experience with EIS programs as an intervention for officers with behavioral or conduct issues?
2. How do EIS programs affect law enforcement agencies as a whole?
3. What indicators could law enforcement supervisors look for in officers to circumvent misconduct (on or off duty)?
4. What interventions have been observed personally or with other officers regarding discipline, counseling, additional training, etc.?

The setting for this study was …

Online Education Experiences Among Teachers Within Technical College System Of Georgia Institutions: A Multiple Case Study, John Robert Edalgo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explore technical education teachers’ perceptions on the use of e-learning within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) institutions. This central research question provides the lens needed to explore forces that promote or discourage the use of online instruction administered by teachers. The theory guiding this study was the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, developed by E.M. Rogers approximately 60 years ago. The DOI theory provides the theoretical framework needed to assess the adopter, the innovation, and the type of communication (evaluation) needed to facilitate sustained adoption in the future. Increased adoption …

Integrating Prayer And Faith In Complementary Alternative Medicine Into Treating Breast Cancer: Lived Experiences, Barbara Orticelli

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcended phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of women who have survived breast cancer and how complementary alternative medicine (CAM), such as prayer and spirituality, were incorporated into their treatments. The research questions used to frame this study include: 1) How do women describe their experiences in seeking to engage faith and prayer praxis as a form of complementary alternative medicine in breast cancer treatment? 2) How do women describe their decision process in choosing faith and prayer as a form of complementary alternative medicine in their breast cancer treatment? The theory guiding this …

Displacement And Diffusion: Rural Hotspot Policing And Drug Arrests In Southwest Virginia, Melissa C. Minton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Drug production, distribution, and trafficking is a growing problem in Southwest Virginia. Routine activity theory and situational crime prevention theory focus on the specific characteristics and have led to many policing initiatives such as hotspot policing. Many policing approaches, including hotspot policing, have positively impacted the production, distribution, and trafficking of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in rural Virginia. However, there is little known about the impact these approaches have had on the displacement and diffusion of these drugs in the areas where the biggest law enforcement operations have taken place. Displacement and diffusion are common consequences of any drug …

Are Ems Prepared To Respond To A Pandemic Or Bioterrorist Attack?, Douglas Howard Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic increased America’s awareness of the amount of death and damage to the economy that pandemics and bioterrorism can cause. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant shortfalls in national preparedness for a pandemic or bioterrorism event. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current preparedness level of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in the United States to prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from a natural or manufactured pandemic across the United States. The significance of this study is an accurate picture of preparedness for pandemic and bioterrorism events by American EMS systems. …

Just-In-Time/Just-In-Case Inventory Management As An Influence On Supply Chain Disruption In Medical Systems Based In The Southeastern United States During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Brooke Gibson Coslett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to gain a deeper understanding on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the global supply chain, particularly in the southeastern region of the United States. The study involved a population comprised of professionals employed in medical systems who possessed a working knowledge of supply chain management. The researcher distributed online surveys via an online survey platform to a list of medical systems professionals in both the public and private sectors. The sample size was 396 professionals, and the number of respondents was 201, once the prospective research participants were properly vetted. …

Discovering, Developing, And Deploying Emerging Ministry Leaders In The Assemblies Of God, Janet Kay Bruner Faggart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Across America, the need exists to identify young, potential Christian leaders who sense a call to ministry, to grow these emerging leaders through spiritual parenting or mentoring, godly relationships, education, training, and ministry experience, and to send out the next generation of ministers to fulfill the Great Commission. The purpose of this mixed-method phenomenological study was to explore and better understand the nature of the discovery, development, and deployment of a call to ministry for emerging leaders who are credentialed ministers with the North Texas District Council of the Assemblies of God and under 40 years of age at the …

A Phenomenological Study: The Self-Efficacy Of Twice-Exceptional Students, Lisa Ann Glover

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental, phenomenological study was to describe the perceived self-efficacy of twice-exceptional students in a singular school district located in the southeastern United States. The theories which guided this study are Swain and French’s affirmative model of disability, Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory, and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory because students who view their disabilities in a positive sense may have greater self-determination and thus increased self-efficacy. The guiding research question for the study examined the shared perceptions of self-efficacy among twice-exceptional students. Data to examine this question were collected from 10 high school students at East Lake School …

Teacher Perceptions Of Hazing Among Middle & High School Students: A Phenomenological Study, Delisa A. Joseph

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore teacher perceptions of hazing at the middle and high school levels. Additionally, this study explored coaches’, school counselors’, and school leadership team members’ experiences of hazing among middle and high school students. Relevant literature related to hazing within education, the comparison, and contrast of hazing and bullying, policies, group dynamics, imitation, and student perceptions were reviewed. The theory that guided this study was Albert Bandura’s 1986 Social Cognitive Theory, as it emphasizes social influence and external and internal social reinforcement. The research questions used were (1) What are teachers’ perceptions …

How Christian Teachers Perceive Their Engagement Facilitates Spiritual Formation Within At-Risk Male Students: A Case Study, Stephanie Eldridge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative intrinsic case study was to understand the experiences of teacher’s perception of their engagement to facilitate spiritual formation within at-risk students at Southeast Christian Alternative School (pseudonym). This participating school is recognized by the North Carolina Department of Administration as a non-public school. The program uses a Wilderness Therapeutic approach to learning. Four essential elements were explored. Teacher’s engagement concerning behavior management was assessed through processes that tactically managed disorderly conduct or acts of misbehavior. Implementation of any behavior plans or behavior models were applicable. Teacher’s engagement concerning spirituality was assessed through active practices of …

Act Score And Sub Score As Predictors Of Pass/Fail On The Credentialing For Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Jeanna Marie Haggard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The profession of nutrition and dietetics is currently experiencing a significant change in the educational process with the conversion to a competency based graduate program for the process of licensure and ability to practice in the profession. In addition, the overall pass rate has declined nationwide, thus creating the need for accurate academic predictors for passing. For many health science programs, standardized exams continue to be an effective predictor of passing licensure exams. With many of the institutions of higher education dropping the requirement for test scores as part of the admission process, this is a consideration for many programs …

The Effects Of Physical Fitness Policies On Law Enforcement Officers' Physical Fitness Levels, Tina M. Hall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Most law enforcement agencies have minimum physical standards for new hires; however, few agencies have physical fitness standards for members once they are hired. Many law enforcement officers experience a decrease in physical fitness levels as their years of law enforcement service increase. The decrease in physical fitness levels causes a reduction in the ability to perform job duties and increases health consequences. This study explored the relationship of physical fitness levels of sworn law enforcement members from agencies with and without enforced physical fitness standards. Anonymous surveys were completed by 1240 sworn law enforcement officers from eight state law …

Emotional Disconnection Between Parents And Adolescents: Communication Obstacles Among Immigrant Chinese American Christian Families, Agnes Yinshan Man

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experiences of communication that lead to emotional connection issues between Chinese immigrant parents and their American-born adolescent children, particularly in families attending Chinese American Christian churches in Massachusetts. The theory guiding this study was social constructivism, which posits that family members may interpret and experience the same interactions differently from one another. The research questions of the study include: (1) How do first-generation Chinese American Christian parents and second-generation Chinese American Christian adolescent children experience their interaction with each other? (2) How do American-born Chinese Christian …

My Sister's Keeper: Using Vision Boards To Examine Cross-Racial Mentorship And Supervision Experiences Of Black Women Counselor Educators Who Attended Cacrep Ces Programs At Predominately White Institutions, Donnette A. Deigh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of Black women recent graduates from Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral programs regarding having a non-Black supervision mentor while attending their predominately White institution. The participants were eight CES doctoral students from PWIs across the United States, including the southeastern, western, and Midwestern regions. Data were obtained using semi structured interviews and vision boards identifying participants’ cross-racial mentorship and supervision experiences during their doctoral programs using critical race theory and Black feminist thought as the theoretical framework. Thematic analysis of …

Exploring Parental Perceptions Concerning Sexual Communication Between Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents And Their Children, Kwame Owura Frimpong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Abstract Sub-Saharan African families experience communication barriers due to factors such as sexual silence, cultural taboos, and shame, preventing them from having sexual health communication with their children. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of Sub-Saharan African immigrant parents concerning sexual shame and parents’ attitudes, knowledge, and comfort level in having a conversation with their pre-adolescent children concerning sexuality and sexual practices. While numerous researchers have demonstrated efficiency in audience-specific interventions, the literature reflects little attention to African immigrants, specifically Sub-Saharan immigrants. The research questions addressed perceptions of influences of a decision to discuss issues relating …