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Elicited Priors For Bayesian Model Specifications In Political Science Research, Jeff Gill, Lee D. Walker

Faculty Publications

We explain how to use elicited priors in Bayesian political science research. These are a form of prior information produced by previous knowledge from structured interviews with subjective area experts who have little or no concern for the statistical aspects of the project. The purpose is to introduce qualitative and area-specific information into an empirical model in a systematic and organized manner in order to produce parsimonious yet realistic implications. Currently, there is no work in political science that articulates elicited priors in a Bayesian specification. We demonstrate the value of the approach by applying elicited priors to a problem …

Lions And Tigers And Rears And Environmental Activists, Oh My! An Eco-Critical Reading Of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Mollie Barnes, Rebecca Weber

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

The Greater Of Two Evils: Distinguishing Between Machiavellians And Tyrants In Shakespeare's "The Rape Of Lucrece" And Milton's Paradise Lost, Mark Crisp

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

The Oswald Review Undergraduate Research And Criticism In The Discipline Of English: Volume 7 Fall 2005

The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English

No abstract provided.

Making Spousal Estate Tax Exemptions Transferable, Mitchell M. Gans, Jonathan G. Blattmachr

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, taxpayers are permitted a federal gift tax exemption and an estate tax exemption. Although technically not exemptions but more in the nature of exemption "equivalents" that entitle taxpayers to a credit, each is more easily understood as an exemption. The gift tax exemption, as so understood, is $1 million for each taxpayer and is not scheduled to increase. The estate tax exemption, as also so understood, is $1 million for 2005 and is scheduled to become $2 million in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and reach $3.5 million in 2009. There will be no …

Separate And Not Equal: Integrating Civil Procedure And Adr In Legal Academia, Jean R. Sternlight

Notre Dame Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Central Florida 2004-2005 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida

Historical Fact Book and Enrollment

Historical fact book and enrollment data for the University of Central Florida.

Baseline Measures Are Altered In Biomechanical Studies, Nikolaos Stergiou, Melissa Scott

Journal Articles

The purpose of this investigation was to examine if baseline measures are altered between conditions in biomechanical studies and to determine the need for baseline measurements in biomechanics. Ten runners were asked to run at varying speeds and obstacle heights. Baseline measures were acquired between all conditions. Right lower extremity kinematic and kinetic data were collected for all baseline trials and evaluated by both a group and a single subject analysis. The group analysis revealed significant differences between baselines only for the obstacle perturbation. The single subject analysis indicated that baseline measures are altered in a greater degree for kinematics …

The Limits Of Philosophy: Plato's Sophist And Statesman, Mark Brouwer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plato's Sophist and Statesman articulate the limits or definition of philosophy. My selective interpretation begins with a problem from Sophist 259e-260a and 252e-253e: Is it possible to express correctly (in logos) the necessary conditions of logos? This is an instance of a universal problem: Is it possible for any expertise to define itself and have expert inspired confidence in this definition? I articulate this universal problem with recourse to Kantian meta-philosophy, Chomsky's generative grammar and Schoenberg's theory of harmony. Rudolph Carnap's distinction between questions internal and external to a scientific framework is the means of addressing this universal problem. Questions …

The Rhetoric And Philosophy Of Early American Discourse 1767-1801: Toward A Theory Of Common Sense, James Cianciola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What are the rhetorical and philosophical implications of common sense in colonial America during the time immediately preceding, during, and following the American Revolution? A study of seminal texts from the Classical era, the Enlightenment, and the American Revolution will reveal the uses of common sense as rhetorical invention in each historical period. This study will also identify the various philosophies of common sense at play in the second half of the 18th century in order to better understand their influence upon the construction of early American rhetoric. While segments of postmodern rhetorical theories challenge or reject the presuppositions of …

Bergson's Aristotelian Theory Of Duration And The History Of Temporality, Daniel Collins-Cavanaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Being and Time, Heidegger claims that the history of the ordinary concept of time is Aristotelian. He says further that this Aristotelian heritage runs from Aristotle to Bergson. In this dissertation, I dispute part of this claim. I dispute that the history of the concept of time is Aristotelian, but I agree that there is a connection between Aristotle and Bergson. Bergson, whose writing on temporality was popular just before the publication of Being and Time, has a theory of temporality, which he calls duration, which is heavily influenced by Aristotle's theory. The primary figure that influences the history …

Examination Of The Reliability And Validity Of The Triage Assessment Survey: Organizations, Christian Conte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Triage Assessment Survey: Organizations (TAS:O), a 27-item, 5-point, Likert summated rating scale. The participants consisted of 117 graduate students. All participants responded to the TAS:O after reading mild, moderate, marked and severe organizational crisis scenarios. Statistical analyses were performed on the data to determine the instrument's reliability and validity. The overall Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown reliability tests were both .93. An item total correlation revealed that all but one item had statistically significant correlations. Factor analysis revealed three factors, confirming the hypothesis that the TAS:O is comprised of three distinct factors …

Planning Release: An Evaluation Of The Allegheny County Jail Project, Rae Dorer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the Allegheny County Jail Project is to allow inmates to maintain social bonds by obtaining meaningful employment and reduce the rate of recidivism. The rates of recidivism were evaluated for the Allegheny County Jail Project and then compared to the rate of recidivism of the general population of the Allegheny County Jail to measure the success of the program. A population of 126 enrollees, the first and second year enrollees of the program combined, was selected for this evaluation from September 2001 to June 2003, and then a follow up of one year was conducted to find …

Migraine: An Existential Phenomenological Study, Jodie Eckenrod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the structure of the migraine headache experience. Three adult participants were asked to give a written answer to the question: "Please describe a time you experienced a migraine headache. Please explain what was happening before the headache, during the headache and how it was resolved." The participants were then asked for an audio taped interview with the researcher, the purpose of which was to further explore unclear areas in the written response. The written response and audio taped interview comprised the data sets for phenomenological analysis. From the data from the three participants, a general narrative of …

The Self-Reported Multicultural Sports Counseling Competencies Among Professional School Counselors And Play It Smart Academic Coaches, Taunya Tinsley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the self-reported multicultural sports counseling competencies of professional school counselors and Play It Smart academic coaches. Specifically, the study explored the differences in multicultural awareness, multicultural counseling knowledge, multicultural counseling skills, and the multicultural counseling relationship among professionals who provide counseling services to high school student athletes. Defining culture inclusively allows the extension of the definition of multicultural counseling to include the student athlete population. This study compared the multicultural sports counseling competencies of professional school counselors and academic coaches affiliated with high schools throughout the United States that utilize the National Football Foundation's Play It Smart …

The Relationships Between Depression And Other Outcomes Of Chronic Illness Caregiving, Pao-Feng Tsai, Mary M. Jirovec

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Many caregivers with chronically ill relatives suffer from depression. However, the relationship of depression to other outcomes of chronic caregiving remains unclear. This study tested a hypothesized model which proposed that hours of care, stressful life events, social support, age and gender would predict caregivers' outcomes through perceived caregiver stress. Depression was expected to mediate the relationship between perceived stress and outcomes of chronic caregiving (physical function, self-esteem, and marital satisfaction).

Methods

The sample for this secondary data analysis consisted of 236 and 271 subjects from the Americans' Changing Lives, Wave 1, 1986, and Wave 2, 1989, data …

Sequential Super-Stereotypy Of An Instinctive Fixed Action Pattern In Hyper-Dopaminergic Mutant Mice: A Model Of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder And Tourette's, Kent C. Berridge, J Wayne Aldridge, Kimberly R. Houchard, Xiaoxi Zhuang

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Excessive sequential stereotypy of behavioral patterns (sequential super-stereotypy) in Tourette's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is thought to involve dysfunction in nigrostriatal dopamine systems. In sequential super-stereotypy, patients become trapped in overly rigid sequential patterns of action, language, or thought. Some instinctive behavioral patterns of animals, such as the syntactic grooming chain pattern of rodents, have sufficiently complex and stereotyped serial structure to detect potential production of overly-rigid sequential patterns. A syntactic grooming chain is a fixed action pattern that serially links up to 25 grooming movements into 4 predictable phases that follow 1 syntactic rule. New …

Communication Between Multiple Robots, Crystal Piper

Senior Seminars

No abstract provided.

A Cognitive View Of The Bilingaul Lexicon: Reading And Speaking Words In Two Languages, Judith Kroll, Bianca Sumutka, Ana Schwartz

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Law Beyond Borders: Jurisdiction In An Era Of Globalization, Introduction To The Symposium, Robert A. Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Questioning The Rhetorical Eclipse Of Philosophical Leisure: Ad Colloquium Conferendum, Annette M. Holba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human communication in our postmodern era has degenerated into phatic communication. Phatic communication, appropriate in some circumstances, used unreflectively limits the ability for the development of healthy, idea-laden conversation. The phatic nature of communication represents a loss of human interest in human communication. Philosophical leisure can help to recapture the element of human interest in conversation, which recuperates an over-abundance of phaticity in human communication. Recuperation of communication occurs when ideas drive conversation. Philosophical leisure can help human beings to find substance for those ideas. This study considers how philosophical leisure can enrich human communication.

Determinants Of Organizational Commitment Among U.S. Workers, Richard Johns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between organizational commitment, job performance, and several individual and work-related variables. My research proceeds in two steps. First, I replicate the analysis between job performance and the individual and workrelated characteristics found in, Organizational Commitment and Job Performance in the U.S. Labor Force (Research in the Sociology of Work, Volume 5, 1995), by Arne Kalleberg and Peter Marsden. Second, I analyze the relationship between affective, effort, and continuance commitment and the individual and work-related characteristics using both bivariate and multivariate analyses. My findings suggest that autonomy and career advancement are the strongest indicators followed by …

Middle School Teachers' Beliefs About How They Communicate Caring And Students' Perceptions Of Their Teachers' Caring Behaviors, Cynthia D. Kainaroi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was three-fold: to examine the behaviors middle school teachers use and believe communicate caring and students' perceptions of their caring behaviors; to determine if a discrepancy exists between the two; and to identify the nature of any discrepancies. Participants included 16 eighth grade teachers and 184 eighth grade students. Data were collected through the use of a teacher questionnaire and an anonymous student writing assignment. Teacher and student responses were grouped into emerging themes of caring. The methodology used in this study to analyze the results included calculating and comparing the percentage of teacher and …

The Us Government-Sponsored Graduate-Level Exchange Programs: The Goals Of The Major Stakeholders And The Students' Academic Interests, Ekaterina Kharlamova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A steady increase in student mobility levels has become a widely recognized component of general globalization trends in the modern world. Yet, internationalization of education is not merely a product of bigger globalization processes. Educational exchange, in many instances sponsored and administered by national governments, is an effective tool in governmental foreign policies. The shift of focus in governmental policies towards the political rather than educational purposes of educational international exchange could lead for lack of attention paid to the issues of foreign students' academic interests. At the same time, universities, although prompted by the globalization tendencies to internationalize their …

Religiosity And Attitudes On Intimacy: Implications For The Hiv/Aids Pandemic In Central Uganda, Herbert Ssewagudde Kibuuka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to carry out an exploratory survey study of how religion can be instrumentalized in the fight against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. After years of research, different drugs have been produced; and different methods of combating HIV/AIDS have been used. The pandemic, however, is still on the rise in most of the world. By 2010 for instance, South Africa will have more than two million orphans (of 57 million projected population), and Uganda today has more than 2.5 million orphans (13% of the population). Significant behavior changes across the population can, however, stop and …

The Perceptions Of Beginning Counselor Education Candidates' Multicultural Knowledge And Awareness When Comparing Candidates Who Have Successfully Completed Instruction In Multicultural Counseling With Candidates Who Have Not Completed Instruction In Multicultural Counseling, Evelyn H. Kitchens-Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within this study, the investigator attempts to determine the perceived effectiveness of counselor trainees using multicultural counseling competencies. The investigator measured the perceived degree of multicultural counseling knowledge and awareness among beginning master's level counseling students in a graduate counselor education program located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The primary research question was: Do counselor education candidates who have successfully completed a 3 credit graduate level course in multicultural counseling perceive themselves to be more knowledgeable and aware in cross-cultural counseling settings than trainees who have not completed the course? A 32-item inventory, the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS, Ponterotto …

Effects Of Emotional Intelligence Training On Incarcerated Adult Males Involved In Pre-Release Programming, Holly Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation summarizes a study conducted to explore the effectiveness of emotional intelligence (EI) training for adult male inmates. Acts of crime and violence cause psychological repercussions to crime victims and financial burdens on our society. Historically, those involved in the criminal justice system have strived to gather knowledge about criminal behavior in order to guide interventions. Furthermore, research on potential interventions has been encouraged in order to support evidence-based rehabilitative efforts that may ultimately impact recidivism. Emotional intelligence is a relatively new construct that may be related to social functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the …

Kaleidoscope Catechesis: Critique And Response To Missionary Catechesis In Africa With Particular Reference To The Diocese Of Wa In Ghana, Anthony Y. Naaeke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The question about how to appropriately incarnate the Christian message among different cultures is a perennial one. The very first Christian Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15: 1-35) dealt with this issue and throughout the centuries different cultures have continued to battle with the same issue.

Within the African context, the question arises as to how Christianity can truly be Christian and African at the same time. In other words, how can faith become culture in Africa?

The answer to this question must be rhetorical. That is to say, the proclamation (catechesis) of the Christian message must be expressed in a …

Financial System In Economic Development: The Nature And Role Of A Robust Financial System In The Economic Transformation Of Uganda, Frederick Leo Nkwasibwe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Financial System in Economic Development: The Nature and Role of Robust Financial System in the Economic Transformation of Uganda is a thesis that treats the nature and role of the massive network of efficient as opposed to dysfunctional financial institutions and functions in the mobilization and allocation of financial resources for creative investment and economic transformation of Uganda.

The thesis suggests that a market-focused robust financial system utilizing a Rural Reach Refocus Financial Model (the 3-R Financial Model), spurs the entrepreneurial revolution, offers debt and equity financing, and enhances economic transformation. It also highlights the basic conditions for the success …

Edith Stein: Toward An Ethic Of Relationship And Responsibility, Judith Parsons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The philosopher Edith Stein (1891-1942) never set down formally an ethical plan. However, in Stein's professional and personal texts, "ethic" is defined as a harmonious matching of internal thoughts and beliefs with external actions, while always moving toward truth. This dissertation seeks to identify the essential components of Stein's ethic.

A search of Stein's philosophical, personal, and autobiographical works suggests that Edmund Husserl, Max Scheler, Adolf and Anna Reinach, Teresa of Avila, and Thomas Aquinas had profound impact on the formation of Stein's ethical stance that included her use of reason as well as faith. Elements of phenomenology and of …