Digital Commons Network^™

How The Public Library Contributes To Community Building: A Case Study, Barbara J. Snyder

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library's assets to the community's. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories …

The Development Of The Remarital Assessment Questionnaire For Divorced Persons (Raq-D), Derrel Jay Higgins

Theses and Dissertations

The development of the Remarital Assessment Questionnaire for Divorced Persons (RAQ-D) is presented. Steps of development of the questionnaire are outlined: a review of remarital literature, interviews with remarried couples, the creation of a pool of items, review of the items by clinicians, and the development of a preliminary questionnaire. Data were collected through the internet. An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the data yielded scales relating to adjustment areas that are specific to remarital couples. The resulting scales exhibited acceptable level of internal consistency. Psychometric properties of the resulting scales are reported. Implications and recommendations of further development of the …

Capital And Punishment:Supporting The Death Of Deterrence, Amanda Paige Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has examined certainty and severity of punishment as serving a deterrent function. This research examines the effects of economic, cultural, and social capital, as well as the effects of certainty, severity, and prior punishment on likelihood of re-offending. Data collected at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility suggest that traditional deterrence indicators are insufficient for predicting likelihood of re-offending. This research finds that prior punishment increases likelihood of re-offending, a finding completely counter to that of traditional deterrence. Re-offending may be best understood by considering the effects of punishment on increasing prison capital and decreasing real world capital. The …

Climate For Sexual Minorities In Counselor Education Programs, George R. Beals

Theses and Dissertations

The counseling profession requires its professionals to be ethically aware, culturally aware, and personally aware. Counselor Education departments strive to create environments that foster multicultural interactions and environments that provide sufficient safety for persons to be self-expressive and self-reflective. Such environments support the personal growth required to be effective counselors and agents of change. The purpose of this research was to measure the climate for sexual minorities in Counselor Education programs. Using the Climate for Sexual Minorities in Counselor Education Programs Survey (CSMCEPS) to collect information from faculty and graduate students, this research attempted to describe the level of acceptance …

Economic Freedom And Social Capital Determinants On Economic Growth Of Developed And Developing Nations, Debjani Chakrabarti

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the determining effects of non-economic factors on economic growth of developed versus developing nations. While earlier economic theories have traditionally focused on land, labor, capital and technology as the principle determining factors of economic growth, latter-day normative theorists demonstrated the importance of cultural forces and human capital variables on economic growth of nations. This dissertation is an extension of this emphasis put on economic growth by the latter-day normative theorists. Economic activities for developed and developing nations have been used as a proxy stock variable (for economic growth) for three points in time ? 1980, 1990 and …

An Empirical Investigation Of Trying And Trust Toward Mobile Banking Adoption: A Crosscultural Analysis Of Chinese And United States Users, Xin Luo

Theses and Dissertations

In the era of e-commerce and m-commerce, money has become bits of data stored on computers and moves around the world as bytes of information on data communication networks. Mobile and wireless is rapidly changing the way personal financial services are designed and delivered. Mobile banking is one of the new access methods for banking services via new delivery channels consisting of the Internet and mobile technologies. Innovative technologies have changed the nature of selling and buying financial services in the new electronic banking paradigm. Customers are increasingly given the option to provide services for themselves via electronic delivery channels. …

County Level Suicide Rates And Social Integration: Urbanicity And Its Role In The Relationship, Jacob Travis Walker

Theses and Dissertations

This study adds to the existing research concerning ecological relationships between suicide rates, social integration, and urbanicity in the U.S. Age-sex-race adjusted five-year averaged suicide rates for 1993-1997 and various measures of urbanicity are used. Some proposed relationships held true, while others indicate that social integration and urbanicity are so intertwined in their effects on suicide that no clear, unidirectional pattern emerges. The religious affiliation measure captured unique variations in the role religion plays in this relationship; depending on how urbanicity was measured. Findings suggest closer attention needs to be paid to how both urbanicity and religious affiliation are measured. …

The Need For Retail Shopping Convenience: An Empirical Examination Of Its Antecedents And Consequences In Mexican-American Consumers And White, Non-Hispanic Consumers In The United States, Michelle Bednarz Beauchamp

Theses and Dissertations

Inherent in the process of marketing is the notion that consumption requires both time and effort. While shopping, consumers may spend time and effort to complete several tasks such as searching for information, traveling to the store?s location, searching for a parking spot, traveling through the store, locating the product they wish to purchase, and completing the checkout process. Convenience is defined as anything that reduces consumer time and effort expenditures and is becoming increasingly important to consumers in the United States. This dissertation provides insight into an emerging consumer need--the need for retail shopping convenience (NRSC). Specifically, this dissertation …

Attachment Style, Self-Esteem, And Perceived Peer Norms As Predictors Of Sexually Risky Behavior Among 17-24 Year Old College Students, Susan Harris Eaves

Theses and Dissertations

Unhealthy sexual behavior continues to increase among the college student population despite education regarding its risks and consequences. Counselors are continually being faced with consumers reeling from such consequences. Because prior research has indicated statistically significant relationships between attachment style and sexual behavior, self-worth and sexual behavior, and peer norms and sexual behavior, this study examined the explanatory and predictive value of each of these variables when analyzed simultaneously. Specifically, the age at first intercourse, number of sexual intercourse partners, number of oral sex partners, frequency of cheating behaviors, and number of one-night stands were assessed across 855 students attending …

Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption, Bmi, And Weight Perception In Women Aged 20-29 Years, Andrea Renee Komm

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption and overweight in women are both becoming more prevalent in the United States. Data from NHANES 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 was collected consisting of non-pregnant women between the ages of 20 and 29 years. Variables measured were BMI, drinking occasions, drinking consumption per week, and women?s perception of their weight. Data was analyzed using chi-square in application to SUDAAN to test significance between variables. Results indicated a correlation between weight perception and drinking occasions per week (p-value 0.013). Nutrition implications suggested that individuals who were classified as overweight had more drinking occasions than individuals classified as underweight.

Religion And Remarriage Among American Women: Evidence From The National Survey Of Family Growth, Susannah Mercedes Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Divorce has been and remains a prevalent occurrence in the United States and, while rates are not increasing as they once were, it still remains an extremely common phenomenon. As of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report on divorce and remarriage, 56% of men and 59% of women ever married have been divorced. Despite these statistics, the vast majority of Americans still value marriage as an institution. This study aims to examine the role religion plays in the propensity and timing of remarriage. Using logistic and OLS regressions, and data pooled from the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of …

The Effects Of Being A Mentor On High School Students' Self-Efficacy And Communication Skills Development, Annemarie Wagner-Fehn

Theses and Dissertations

The outcome of mentoring programs on the child being mentored has been widely researched in recent years. However, little empirical research has been conducted to determine the effects that these relationships have on the person doing the mentoring. The purpose of this research was to investigate if becoming an adolescent mentor would (a) positively affect high school students' feelings of self-efficacy and (b) affect their communication skills development. Thirteen high school students from Big Brothers Big Sisters School Based Mentoring Program participated in this study. A t-test for paired samples revealed no significant differences between the pre and post …

Influences Of Mothers And Dual-Career Families On The Educational Attainment Of Female College Students, Mansi Patel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand if mothers have an influence on their daughters by (a) determining if a relationship existed between the educational attainment of mothers and the level of education female college students strive to achieve and (b) verifying if female college students are more likely to come from households with working mothers and dual-career families. A sample of 50 predominantly Caucasian female college students at Rowan University were surveyed on their personal and family background. A non-parametric correlation test revealed that a significant relationship existed between the educational attainment of mothers and the aspired educational …

The Relationship Between Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religiosity And Meaning In Life, Diane Woyciechowski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the following study was to determine whether there is a significant relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and the presence of and search for meaning in one's life. Since religion has previously been found to play a role in one's physical and mental health, the present study offers additional evidence to religion's role in the mental health field. Three measures were used to collect the data for this study, including a demographic form, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Intrinsic/ Extrinsic Religiosity Revised Scale (I/E-R). Sixty-eight students were recruited for this study, 31 males and …

Does Student Engagement Vary Among Colleges Within A University?, Amrinder Kaur

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between student engagement and different colleges within a university. Research has asserted that student engagement is closely related to student learning and that student engagement varies from institution to institution depending on various factors. However, there has been minimal research on student engagement among colleges within the same university. A sample of 120 undergraduate college students (20 from each of the six colleges) was recruited from Rowan University to complete the National Survey of Student Engagement in four different areas: Level of academic challenge, Active and collaborative learning, Student-faculty interaction …

The Relationship Of Locus Of Control, Assimilation/Acculturation And Academic Performance, Sandra Padró

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between locus of control, assimilation/acculturation and academic performance of a group of students in a Southern New Jersey, urban middle school. It was hypothesized that the more assimilation/acculturation of Hispanic students into the Anglo culture a more internal locus of beliefs will be demonstrated and a better academic performance. A total of 137 students participated in this study. Data was collected using a LOC survey and a SASH-Y survey. An Anova-One Way and a Two-Way Anova were used to determine the relationship of these variables. The results demonstrated a connection …

A Study On The Impact Of Parental Structure On High School Students' Academic Performance, Erica Rell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the cumulative GPAs and highest combined SAT scores of students from varying backgrounds and parental structures. A total of 83 participants (36 males and 47 females) from a southern New Jersey Catholic high school were surveyed concerning their individual type of parental structure, their cumulative GPA, as well as their highest combined SAT score and individual SAT test scores. Results showed that the interaction between gender and type of parental structure did not have a significant impact on cumulative GPA, on SAT verbal scores, on SAT math scores, on …

Intrapersonal Communication And Well-Being, James Abbott

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the experience of self-talk (intrapersonal communication) among subjects of varying well-being, considering multiple characteristics of self-talk such as tone, content, timing, and subject awareness. The research questions were: (R1) How is intrapersonal communication used and experienced by those with higher and lower levels of self-assessed well-being? (R2) To what extent are subjects of varying well-being states aware of their intrapersonal communication?

Twenty semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with individuals of varying well-being and other characteristics such as age and occupation. The subjects ranged in age from approximately twenty-one to eighty. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and …

A Study Of New Jersey Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Qualifications And Beliefs On Certification, Stephanie Marone

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to assess New Jersey middle school mathematics teachers' qualifications and beliefs on certification. To research this topic, teachers from South Jersey middle schools were contacted and asked to respond to a survey. The survey was created by the researcher to obtain information on the qualifications of respondents and their beliefs. The survey used a Likert scale to measure teachers' beliefs on their qualifications and comfort level teaching New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. It is clear from previous research that middle school mathematics teachers should be educated specifically to teach both mathematics and young …

Economic Hardship And Children's Social Withdrawal In Romanian Families, Jennifer Denise Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of perceived economic hardship on family processes and children's socially withdrawn (reticent) behaviors in Romania. The sample consisted of 121 Romanian mothers and fathers of 4-5 year old children, as well as children's kindergarten teachers. Drawing on Conger and colleagues' family stress model of economic hardship, the associations among mothers' and fathers' ratings of economic hardship, depression, marital conflict, psychologically controlling parenting, and teacher ratings of child social withdrawal were analyzed. Structural equation modeling using AMOS 7.0 was used to test the model. Findings generally support earlier studies with European American families, as well as …

A Study Of Selected Student Attitudes Toward Factors That Influence Academic Achievement, Marquis L. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of selected African-American male college students and the impact of financing, role-modeling, high school preparation, college/community acceptance, and family support on academic achievement at Rowan University. The study sought to determine if any of these factors had a significant relationship with academic achievement.

Academic achievement was measured by a self-reported GPA of 2.76 or higher, which was higher than Rowan University's minimum requirement (2.5) for graduation, and honors achievements (awards, certificates, honor societies). Responses were measured using a Likert scale of 1-Strongly Agree to 5-Strongly Disagree.

Respondents reported that financial …

Religion And The Everyday Ritual Of Home Life: A Comparison Of Higher And Lower Family Functioning Groups, Rachel Wadsworth Loser

Theses and Dissertations

As scholarly interest in family religiosity has grown, scholars have called for a closer look at proximal measures of religiosity that are more connected to the individual and familial daily experience (Mahoney et al., 1999). The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how religion and family religious rituals relate to, interface with, and affect the day-to-day activity of family life. It includes qualitative analysis of interviews with highly religious parents and children in 67 families that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grounded theory was employed to analyze the data and a conceptual …

Triangulating Social Capital Measurement For Turnover Research: Applications To The U.S. Military, Frederic W. Lunas

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, and around the world, social capital is becoming an intriguing new focus for slowing the declining sense of community and community trust. This strengthening focus on social capital in empirical study has great potential for an important role in U.S. public policy, as policy changes focused on increasing social capital may decrease turnover.
Yet, according to researchers, not enough sufficiently tested empirical measures of social capital exist. Combining several existing measures should provide a theoretically informed measurement of social capital for turnover research with application to the U.S. Military. Within this context, this thesis incorporated survey …

Facilities Management: Curriculum Development For A New Undergraduate Major, Ryan Barstad

Theses and Dissertations

Facilities around the world need managers to operate them. Those potential managers must be educated in order to run successful facilities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop undergraduate curriculum for a facilities management major within the Department of Technology at the University of North Dakota. The emphasis areas within this degree will be: Sports Facilities Management, Industrial Facilities Management, and Higher Education Facilities Management. To determine the appropriate courses for this major, several existing Facilities Management programs at various higher education institutions will be examined. In addition, a survey will be designed to gather information regarding the …

Predicting Retention In Online Courses Utilizing The Noel-Levitz Priorities Survey™ For Online Learners, Michael H. Herbert

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that post-secondary students do not complete online courses at the same rate as traditional on-campus students. Demographic and institutional online student variables were examined to see whether it could be determined which of those variables were significant in online course success. The Noel-Levitz Priority Survey for Online Learners™ was utilized to survey students at Bemidji State University, a Minnesota liberal education state university, who had taken at least one online course during the fall semester of 2005. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were utilized on the survey variables. The results indicated that there were statistically significant mean …

Optimizing Product Variant Placement To Satisfy Market Demand, Jonathan Roger Parkinson

Theses and Dissertations

Many companies use product families in order to offer product variants that appeal to different market segments while minimizing costs. Because the market demand is generally not uniform for all possible product variants, during the design phase a decision must be made as to which variants will be offered and how many. This thesis presents a new approach to solving this problem. The product is defined in terms of performance parameters. The market demand is captured in a preference model and applied to these parameters in order to represent the total potential market. The number and placement of the product …

Culturally Adapted Mental Health Treatments: A Meta-Analysis, Derek Griner

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years psychologists have increased awareness and concern regarding the quality of mental health services provided to people of color. For several reasons clients of color often find traditional mental health services foreign or unhelpful. To help diminish obstacles faced by clients of color, several authors have advocated traditional mental health treatments be modified to better match clients' cultural contexts. Researchers have also begun investigating outcomes associated with culturally modified mental health treatments, often contrasting them with traditional mental health services. Recently numerous studies containing empirical data have been published. To date there has been no attempt to review …

In Pursuit Of An Aptitude Test For Potential Cyberspace Warriors, Tiffiny S. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has officially assumed the cyberspace mission. To perform this mission well, it is important to employ personnel who have the necessary skill sets and motivation to work in a cyberspace environment. The first step in employing the right people is to screen all possible candidates and select those with an aptitude for acquiring the skill sets and with the motivation to perform this work. This thesis attempts to determine the necessary skills and motivations to perform the cyberspace mission and recommends a screening process to select the candidates with the highest probability for success. Since this mission …

Networks And Cultural Bridges: A Case Study With The Tarahumara Of Northern Mexico, Jennifer Marie Nations

Theses and Dissertations

Network and cultural bridge theories predict the source and durability of cultural boundaries, including how cultural boundaries are overcome in order for differing groups to have meaningful exchanges. Ethnographic interview data with three research subjects in Northern Mexico reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. Minita Bustillos, Juan Daniel Villalobos, and Horacio Echeverrí­a contribute to bridging ties between the closed indigenous community of the Tarahumara and outside Mexican and American groups. Their positions elucidate the veracity of theoretical propositions found in network and cultural bridge theories. Findings suggest that though useful in understanding several aspects of network structure and …

A Layered Social And Operational Network Analysis, Jennifer L. Geffre

Theses and Dissertations

To provide maximal disruption to a clandestine/terrorist network's ability to conduct missions, we must develop a means to determine the individuals' importance to the network and operations. In a network centric world, this importance is represented as an additive value of their criticality across the convergence of multiple layers of network connections. The connections layers of the network are comprised of social layers (Acquaintance, Friendship, Nuclear Family, Relatives, Student-Teacher, and Religious Mentors, Reverent Power and others), as well as layers representing interactions involving Resources, Knowledge/Skills and Temporal Local. The social criticality of an individual is measured by centrality. Event Trees …