Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence Of Technology On Adolescent Development: An Eco-Cultural Analysis Of Cybersocial Activity, Stephanie Helsel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The introduction of new technologies into society inevitably results in culture-wide changes that affect the way people work, learn, and experience leisure time. For those American adolescents with access to technology, the use of the Internet to develop and maintain relationships is quickly becoming ubiquitous, especially through social network sites; the most popular network site, MySpace, has grown exponentially since its creation in 2003. Adolescents are the primary users of such sites and many of them maintain blogs, or online chronicles that are available for public viewing and comment, along with their profile pages and friend networks. This qualitative study …

How American Student Journalists At A College Newspaper Consume, Perceive, And Disseminate News And Information About China, Xiaohua Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increase of cooperation between America and China, the average person's perception of the other country could be an important factor that influences the development of the relationship between these countries. This study was designed to explore how Americans student journalists view China and how these student journalists select the news for a campus newspaper that might influence their readers' perceptions of China. Student journalists not only represent American youth but also act as connectors and filters between a huge flow of information outside and students on campus. A convenience census sample of student journalists at a campus newspaper …

Producing A Measure For Assessing Motivating Career Influencesfor Counselors-In-Training, Tyson Kuch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe an appropriate protocol for developing a psychometrically sound instrument to assess perceived influences motivating graduate students to enter the counseling profession. The self-report, 124-item inventory was administered to a sample of 347 graduate students pursuing counseling as a profession. All participants responded to the inventory anonymously. A factor analysis from responses grouped scale items into six different factors, and helped condense the scale into a shorter, more psychometrically sound instrument by identifying those items with low or ambiguous factor loadings, suitable for removal. A factor analysis also identified those items most relevant …

A Reinforcement Learning Technique For Enhancing Human Behavior Models In A Context-Based Architecture, David Aihe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A reinforcement-learning technique for enhancing human behavior models in a context-based learning architecture is presented. Prior to the introduction of this technique, human models built and developed in a Context-Based reasoning framework lacked learning capabilities. As such, their performance and quality of behavior was always limited by what the subject matter expert whose knowledge is modeled was able to articulate or demonstrate. Results from experiments performed show that subject matter experts are prone to making errors and at times they lack information on situations that are inherently necessary for the human models to behave appropriately and optimally in those situations. …

Let Her Be Taken: Sexual Violence In Medieval England, Lindsey Mcnellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rape and its impact on medieval women, as conceived by society and the law, have yet to receive extensive treatment. By analyzing not only rape cases, but evolving laws and the impact of the Church on views of sexuality and marriage and thus its influence on attitudes towards rape, this study shows that women were much more than victims and society, or the courts, reacted accordingly. Covering the years 1200 to 1250, this thesis examines secular court cases taken from the general eyre records of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. Cases taken from the King's Bench …

A Pure Space To Be Mexican: Ethnic Mexicans And The Mexico-U.S. Soccer Rivalry, 1990-2002, Paola Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the soccer rivalry between Mexico and the United States that has been evolving since the early 1990s. Neither Mexico nor the United States are soccer powerhouse nations, yet their rivalry is arguably one of the most passionate contests in the world. For the Mexican National team the rivalry has become a struggle to maintain dominance and power in one of the few arenas where Mexico traditionally has had an advantage. The ability of the United States to challenge Mexican hegemony has intensified the rivalry. Although the United States has been able to score some victories inside the …

Living And Thriving In The Land Of Milk And Honey: Religion And The Success Of Mexican Immigrants To The United States, Jamie Dodge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of religion in promoting the success of Mexican immigrants, as measured by typical U.S. standards of success, including income, education, assets (such as homeownership), and health, including access to health insurance, controlling for age, education, gender, and ability to speak English. These measures are analyzed against various indicators of religiosity. The hypothesis driving the research is: religiosity increases an immigrant's success in the United States. This hypothesis was informed by social capital theory, and a distinction is made between bridging and bonding forms of social capital. The results show only a very weak correlation between …

Race-Ing And Gendering Art Criticism : Politics Of Identity In The Reviews Of Lorna Simpson, Glenn Ligon, And Kara Walker / By Margaret Tate, Margaret Tate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Gay Darl : A New Reading Of Erotics In As I Lay Dying, Phillip Andrew Gordon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The News Media And Ipv, Fred D. Mcghee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Memory For Gossip, Jennifer Caldwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

W.E.B. Du Bois And The Rhetoric Of Social Change, 1897-1907: Attitude As Incipient Action, Fendrich Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the social change rhetoric of scholar and civic activist W.E.B. Du Bois to understand the role, motivations, influences, and shortcomings of his message upon a shifting current of black thought during the late ninetieth and early twentieth-century. In this study, I focus upon Du Bois' rhetorical aptitude in the building of his character, the emotional appeals made to his immediate audience, and the logical arguments and counter arguments that he publicly advanced in developing his program of parallel development.
I contend that in providing an alternate narrative to the competing opinions of accommodation as a solution to …

Role Perceptions Of Hospital Based Nurse Case Managers, Kimberly C. Hopey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of hospital based nurse case managers' perceptions of: (a) their role in today's rapidly changing healthcare environment, (b) practices and other factors that contribute to role success, (c) sources of role frustration, and (d) opportunities to enhance future role success and satisfaction. The study is significant because efficient and effective hospital based nursing case management benefits patients/families, nurse case managers (NCMs), hospitals, insurers, and the community at large. As the emic point of view of participants was highly desired, a qualitative descriptive design using focus groups method was selected, …

Seizing The Catholic Moment: Kairos And The Rhetoric Of Diocesan Administration, Craig Maier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What can Roman Catholic diocesan administrations in the United States learn from rhetorical studies in the postmodern moment? This dissertation attempts to help American dioceses to respond to a postmodern moment of increasing secularization, changing human resources, and declining institutional trust. In this moment of challenge and uncertainty, it finds Richard Neuhaus's (1987) metaphor of the Catholic Moment to be particularly powerful for diocesan administration because it finds within the tensions of postmodernity a new sense of possibility that both the Christian and rhetorical traditions have understood through the metaphor of kairos.

The rhetoric of diocesan administration is best understood …

On The Use And Abuse Of Nietzsche For Marketing Communication: Examining Consumer Suspicion Toward Advertising, Daniel Ulf Assmus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines increasing consumer suspicion in light of contemporary marketing praxis. Immanuel Kant's concept of "self-inflicted intellectual immaturity" is traced throughout 20th century marketing literature. A review of the public relations practices of Edward Bernays reveals a close similarity to recent concepts of integrated marketing communication (Schultz). This project contrasts marketing communication approaches grounded in mass psychology with the rational choice model of consumer behavior.

These dualistic viewpoints are often regarded as mutually exclusive; however, this author proposes an "integrated dualism" of marketing communication to provide consumers with ways to redeem rhetorical "tokens" (Mayhew) that constitute the managerial rhetoric …

"They Just Want Someone They Can Talk To:" Administrative Perceptions Of Prison Grievance Resolution Programs, Erica Paige Zaveloff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compares prison grievance resolution programs currently being utilized in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The effectiveness of each program is examined through administrators' perceptions of how well the programs are working. The Chief Grievance Processor and a Facility Grievance Coordinator in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Head Corrections Ombudsman in the state of New Jersey were interviewed. Effectiveness is determined through a comparison of what administrators report and the stated objectives of each program. It is hypothesized that administrators from both states will believe the processes are currently working effectively because of bureaucratic pressure. Results show that …

Leadership Orientations Ofcommunity College Presidents And The Administrators Who Report To Them: A Frame Analysis, Michele Mcardle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Presidents of Community Colleges and the administrators who reported directly to them were the subjects for this study based on the Four Frame Leadership Theory of Bolman and Deal (1990b). The Leadership Orientation (Self) Survey (LOS) was mailed to 169 community college presidents and administrators in the presidents' direct report teams. The final usable response rate of 69.82% to the survey fell within the acceptable range for education as defined by Boser and Green (1997). In addition, the subjects were asked to write about the most difficult challenge they had faced in their current position and how they handled that …

The Perception Of Homeless People: Important Factors In Determining Perceptions Of The Homeless As Dangerous, Amy Donley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study uses two quantitative and two qualitative data sources to determine if homeless people are viewed as dangerous and if they are what factors contribute to this perception. Areas examined are respondent's characteristics, media affects and the perceived rights of homeless people to urban space. Actual levels of perpetration among the homeless are examined to allow for comparisons between perception and reality to be made. Findings showed that race plays a major role in the perception of homeless peo-ple among whites, while gender is more influential among blacks. There was no rela-tionship between media and perceptions. A negative relationship …

The Academic Achievement Of African-American Students In Orange County Public High Schools, Athena Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted to determine the disparity between the academic achievement of African American students and the academic achievement of white American students in the state of Florida, and more specifically, in five high schools in Orange County Public Schools. The term "African American" included all students who self-identified as that race upon enrollment into an Orange County public school. The study included male and female African American students from different socio-economic levels. The term "differences in academic achievement" is most commonly referred to as "achievement gap." Additionally, this study sought to determine the relationship, if any, in the …

The Gendered Altar: Wiccan Concepts Of Gender And Ritual Objects, Jesse Sloan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many ethnographic accounts within the annals of anthropological literature describe the religious beliefs and magical rituals of peoples throughout the world. Fewer scholars have focused on the relatively young Neo-Pagan religious movement. "Neo-Pagan," explains Helen Berger in Voices from the Pagan Census (2003), "is an umbrella term covering sects of a new religious movement, the largest and most important form of which is…Wicca" (Berger et al. 2003: 1). This thesis examines the relationship between practice and ideology by analyzing the material culture of Wiccan altars as used by Wiccans in Central Florida, USA. Particular attention is paid to beliefs …

Collaborative Dispute Resolution In Superfund Enforcement:Does The Resolution Approach Vary By Community-Level Sociodemographic, Mary Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines environmental dispute resolution as applied to Superfund site cleanup and how the use of collaborative dispute resolution approaches, in particular Alternative Dispute Resolution and Community Involvement, are related to a community's socioeconomic and demographic profile. It examines the sociodemographic characteristics of residents living in census tracts containing Superfund sites in relation to the type of dispute resolution technique used. I hypothesize that collaborative dispute resolution techniques, as opposed to traditional settlement and/or litigation, are less likely to occur in Superfund communities with high poverty levels and high minority populations than in those with low poverty levels and …

The Cost Of Being Me: Assessing The Consequences Of Compliance With Perceived Pressure To Assimilate In Work Roles, Tangela Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation refers to the process of change and adaptation that occurs between members of cultural groups, especially when one or more minority groups merge with the majority (Berry, 1980). In order to effectively manage diversity, organizational leaders are beginning to realize the importance of understanding the dynamics associated with cross cultural interactions in the workplace. This dissertation focuses on the acculturation mode of assimilation relative to the experiences of 101 African Americans employed in faculty and staff positions in colleges and universities located in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, the moderating role of ethnic identity on the relation between perceived …

Case Studies Of Reading Performance Of Male Students And The Single-Sex Classroom, Eric Basilo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data from standardized test scores shows boys are falling further behind in literacy each year. Thanks to countless hours of research, we can pinpoint some of the causes for this decline. The major challenge educators face is how to keep boys interested in reading while placed in classrooms not necessarily designed to meet their needs. One option being explored is the use of single-sex classrooms. For over 160 years in the United States, public school single-sex classrooms have existed. The thought is that by separating boys and girls for academic classes, certain distractions will be eliminated, the environment can be …

The Relationship Between School Culture And Third-Grade Fcat Reading Proficiency In Seminole County Public Elementary Schools, Kelley Novak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to determine the relationship between school culture and student achievement. Elementary school teachers (N=574) from 27 schools in suburban Seminole County, Florida completed the School Culture Triage Survey to generate a school culture score. The participating schools were ranked and placed in categories representing the top 33% (N=9), middle 33% (N=9), and bottom 33% (N=9) of the population based on their culture score. School culture data were analyzed and correlated with third grade student achievement data, as measured by the 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading to determine if there were any relationships between (a) school …

Effects Of Discussion And Writing On Student Understanding Of Mathematics Concepts, Joseph Roicki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For this action research project, I wanted to examine my practice of teaching mathematics. Specifically, I encouraged students to improve their communication skills during my math class through daily discussion and writing tasks. After establishing a class set of sociomathematical norms, the students solved problems provided by the Every Day Counts: Calendar Math program and used verbal and written formats to describe their problem solving methods and reasons. My study showed the effects of using discussion and writing to help students develop their conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas. Focus was placed on the quality of daily discussions and written tasks …

Evaluation Of The Antecedents Of Cultural Competence, Mary Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The threefold purpose of this research is to identify the essential antecedents of cultural competence as identified by international nurse researchers, to compare the content of the extant cultural competence instruments to these antecedents and to potentially identify gaps in their conceptualization. A secondary aim of this research is to initiate validation of Harper's model of ethical multiculturalism. Conceptual Basis: The model of ethical multiculturalism depicts the attributes of ethical multiculturalism as the fulcrum of a balance between two ethical philosophies of fundamentalism and relativism. The attributes of moral reasoning, beneficence/nonmaleficence, respect for persons and communities, and cultural competence …

The Influence Of Cultural Diversity On Initial Decisions To Trust In Newly Forming Teams: A Policy Capturing Approach, Heather Priest Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of diversity on the decision to trust at team formation when no history or prior relationship exists. The study consisted of two phases: 1) a selection phase and 2) a policy capturing phase. The first phase consisted of demographics, propensity to trust, and prejudice scales that were used to select participants for phase 2. The second phase consisted of a full factorial design, policy capturing study which consisted of 64 scenarios which varied the level (i.e., high and low) of 6 variables: cultural diversity, attribution, perceptions of risk, trustworthiness, third party information, and role clarity. …

Determinants Of Turkish Police Officers' Perception Of Integrity: Impact Of Organizational Culture, Bahadir Kucukuysal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of police organizational culture on officers' perception of integrity in the Turkish National Police (TNP). Adopting an organizational rather than an individualistic perspective, this study focused on police organizational culture to investigate the causes of integrity problems in the TNP. While focusing on police organizational culture, this study also aimed to determine to what extent officers' perceptions of integrity are influenced by personal and occupational attributes such as age, gender, rank, income, educational level, years of employment, and assignment type. The research was conducted in Turkey's two largest cities, Istanbul …

The Impact Of Gender Role Orientation On Childhood Friendship Patterns, Ashley O. Durkee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Why Parents Choose Catholic School: A Social Theory Understanding, John M. Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic schools in the United States are at a critical juncture. The Catholic bishops speak as if parents choose a Catholic school mainly because of the spiritual mission of the school. But what are the real reasons that parents choose Catholic school for their children? Current research provides no social or religious understanding of the phenomenon of school choice.

Research Questions and hypotheses

As the title indicates, the purpose of this study is to investigate the real reasons that parents choose Catholic school for their children as understood by using a social theory model and as influenced by many forces …