Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding How Evaluators Deal With Multiple Stakeholders, Michelle Elyce Baron

Theses and Dissertations

Although many leaders in evaluation advise evaluators to balance the needs of the client and other stakeholders, very little is known about how or if practicing evaluators address this injunction. Understanding how practicing evaluators address the needs of multiple stakeholders could inform evaluator training. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe what practicing evaluators do when faced with conflicting stakeholder values. This study invited five evaluators to share their experiences working with multiple stakeholders while reflecting on how they deal with multiple and often conflicting values as they seek to serve the stakeholders. One implication from this study …

Preparing Medical Students To Counsel For Smoking Cessation, Aubree M. Guiffre

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Smoking is a national epidemic. Medical providers are the first line of defense to help patients reduce or stop smoking. However, smoking cessation counseling does not occur consistently or regularly. Medical providers must be trained to counsel for smoking cessation, with certain areas requiring attention in order for the training to be successful. There is a relationship between medical students who have high rates of self-efficacy related to smoking cessation counseling and high rates of actual counseling. Understanding the relationships between knowledge, skills, attitudes, and the medical school year in training on self-efficacy is important to better prepare medical students …

The Fearful Face And Beyond: Fmri Studies Of The Human Amygdala, Jillian E. Hardee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The amygdala has been labeled as a "detector of threat", evidenced by its heightened response to fearful faces in human neuroimaging studies. A critical element of the fearful face is an increase in eye white area, hypothesized to be crucial for the rapid detection of fear in another's face. Yet other facial expressions can also increase eye white area in a manner that is similar (a lateral shift in gaze) or identical (surprise) to fear. It is unknown if the amygdala can differentiate between these types of increases in eye white area and those that are specifically associated with fear …

Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Osteoarthritis Treatments Among The Medicare Population, Meghan Alexis Hufstader

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The design of this study is a non-random cross sectional survey to determine Medicare beneficiaries’ preferences and willingness to pay for osteoarthritis (OA) treatments. The population of interest in this study is the Medicare eligible (over age 65) population in Memphis, TN, and surrounding cities. Data were collected at Senior Centers and one internal medicine practice. The sample size was 181.

Choice-based conjoint analysis technique was utilized. The preferences and willingness to pay were determined using choice-based conjoint analysis, advanced design module with a dual-response none option. Choice-based conjoint analysis uses computer guided surveys to elicit patient preference for a …

Living In The Spectrum: Autistic Children Center, Jennifer Villegas

Architecture Theses and Projects

Throughout this project, I became aware of how the life of an autistic child differs from others. They view the world around them as something new and exciting. The goal was to create an environment to help children with autism and make them comfortable within their daily lifestyle. I used architecture to construct a realm in which these students could explore an environment which benefited their development.

The Trial Of Rube Waddell, Roger I. Abrams, Alan Levy

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

Tortured Souls: Unhappy Lawyers Viewed Through The Medium Of Film, Lance Mcmillian

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

Could The New Women's Professional Soccer League Survive In America? How Adopting A Traditional Legal Structure May Save More Than Just A Game, Marc Edelman, Elizabeth Masterson

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

"To Catch A Predator" Gets Caught: Are Nbc's Television Journalists Sacrificing Media Ethics And Legal Procedures For A Chance In The Spotlight?, Amy Rokuson

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

Human Cloning, Stem Cell Research. An Islamic Perspective., Aida I. Al-Aqeel

Saudi Medical Journal

The rapidly changing technologies that involve human subjects raise complex ethical, legal, social, and religious issues. Recent advances in the field of cloning and stem cell research have introduced new hopes for the treatment of serious diseases. But this promise has raised many complex questions. This field causes debate and challenge, not only among scientists but also among ethicists, religious scholars, governments, and politicians. There is no consensus on the morality of human cloning, even within specific religious traditions. In countries in which religion has a strong influence on political decision making, the moral status of the human embryo is …

Development And Validation Of The Arabic Allergic Rhinitis Quality Of Life Questionnaire., Salah M. Aburuz, Naela R. Bulatova, Mohammed I. Tawalbeh

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate an Arabic allergic rhinitis quality of life questionnaire (AAQQ). METHODS: The study was conducted at the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic at the University of Jordan Hospital, Amman, Jordan, from February 2006 to June 2007. A questionnaire was developed from data obtained from 90 patients, and the validation study was conducted on 140 patients. The study was a 5-week observational study. We evaluated the measurement properties necessary for use of the AAQQ in clinical practice, clinical trials, and cross-sectional surveys. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficient for the repeated AAQQ measurements was excellent (0.93), indicating a …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Injunctive Norms On Marijuana Use: The Role Of Reference Groups, Joseph W. Labrie, Justin F. Hummer, Andrew Lac, Christine M. Lee

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Objective: Little work has evaluated the relationship between injunctive norms and marijuana use. This study sought to establish whether misperceptions exist between perceived injunctive norms of typical college students and the actual approval level of the students. We also examined respondents’ perceptions of which groups (typical student, close friends, and parents) were the most and least approving of marijuana. These variables were then applied to an explanatory model to assess their relationships with marijuana use.

Method: Participants were 3,753 students (61% female) randomly recruited from two West Coast campuses. Participants were asked about their own marijuana use and their own …

How Effectively Do People Learn From A Variety Of Different Opinions?, Andrew Healy

Economics Faculty Works

This paper presents experimental evidence about how effectively individuals learn from information coming from heterogeneous sources. In the experiment, Thai subjects observed information that came from Americans and from other Thais that they could use to help them answer a series of questions. Despite listening too little to either group, subjects demonstrated a significant amount of statistical sophistication in how they weighed observed American information relative to observed Thai information. The data indicate that subjects understood that outside information has extra value because people from the same group tend to make the same kinds of mistakes. The results illustrate the …

Impact Of Increased Technology Use In The Free-Time Choices Of Fifth And Seventh Grade Students In A Southern School District, Cynthia Susan Miller

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The study sought to determine if increased technology use affects the free-time choices of students. While technology options have grown exponentially, time remains a fixed commodity. Therefore, it is suggested that students who increasingly use technology must draw time from more traditional childhood activities. Students' free-time activities were examined to document discernable patterns among the activities valued by students who use technology extensively and the activities valued by students who use technology less frequently. Study participants were fifth and seventh grade students in a semi-rural suburban county in the southeastern United States. The data collection instrument was a self-reporting survey …

"Like An Old Song They Carried In Their Memory": Eudora Welty's Transformation Of Folklore In The Wide Net And Other Stories, Leigh Anna Pendergrass

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract

The Effect Of Imipramine Hcl On Haemolysis Of Horse Erythrocytes, Tamara Esther Farrant

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The mechanism of action of tricyclic antidepressant (TCAs) is not fully understood. The effect of the TCA imipramine on the haemolysis of erythrocytes was investigated, focussing on dosage and incubation time. The method used a drug free red blood cell (RBC) haemolysis assay (Watts & Handy, 2007) comparing experimental drug concentrations ranging from 0.0904 mg/ml – 90.4 mg/ml. Incubation time effects were also investigated, and haemolysis increased with decreasing osmolarity. Compared with the control the percentage haemolysis increased significantly with higher concentrations of imipramine, but was reduced by 0.0904 mg/ml imipramine. Haemolysis also increased with longer incubation time in both …

Developing An Attachment To Place Through Diy, Megan Heast

The Plymouth Student Scientist

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted of semi-structured interviews, with the aim of investigating factors which affect attachment to, and identity within the home and whether completion of DIY projects has any effect on these. The participants were eight students from the University of Plymouth who signed up to the study as part of a course requirement, and two others who were known to the experimenter to have undertaken DIY within their respective homes. The findings show that the level of personalisation and sense of ownership a home owner feels within their property, are key factors to attachment and …

The Experience And Perception Of Concurrent Versus Retrospective Chocolate Cravings, Harriet Taylor

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Seventy undergraduate students participated in a self-report study to investigate the perception of concurrent versus retrospective chocolate-related cravings. This study was interested in exploring whether retrospective cravings were reported as more intense than concurrent cravings due to cognitive distortions over time. Results showed that retrospective chocolate cravings were reported as significantly stronger and more urgent (p< .001), and were characterised by more vivid gustatory imagery (p< .025), than concurrent cravings. All other aspects of chocolate craving were reported similarly across groups. This indicates that retrospective measures of chocolate cravings may provide inaccurate representations of the craving experience. This difference may potentially be found with other types of cravings, and for that reason, where possible, concurrent measures of craving should be given priority.

Involving Students In Researching Learning And Teaching Approaches: An Additional Focus For Undergraduate Student Publications?, Sue Berkill

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Sue Burkill, Head of Education Enhancement, University of Exeter

Can Children Use Similarity Between Actions To Learn Grammar?, Fiona Anning

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The present study was a replication and extension of Casenhiser and Goldberg (2005). Children aged 5;0 to 7;6 were assigned to one of two training conditions, either they were only taught novel verbs in a novel construction paired with appearance scenes or they were additionally trained on novel verbs in the transitive construction. All participants were assessed on both word orders with new novel verbs using a forced-choice comprehension test. The children in both conditions performed significantly worse on the appearance items than the causative trials, which fails to replicate the original study. The translation post-test responses suggest that poor …

"Like An Old Song They Carried In Their Memory": Eudora Welty's Transformation Of Folklore In The Wide Net And Other Stories, Leigh Anna Pendergrass

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis looks at the importance of folklore in Eudora Welty's The Wide Net and Other Stories. Folklore fulfills several functions in this collection of stories: it connects the characters within the stories to their culture and the people around them as it highlights the differences between the stark real world and the idealistic folkloric world; folklore also creates a more realistic and relatable experience for the readers of Welty's fiction while Welty allows herself to intertwine her local folklore with more universally known folklore in order to show her respect for her local lore as she allows herself the …

Impact Of Preschool Education On Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade Students, Melissa Harvey Clark

Dissertations

This study examines the impact of various types of preschool care and education on the reading achievement of children, kindergarten through fifth grade, who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). The participants in this study are located throughout the United States of America. These students attend public and private schools.

The data for this study were provided by the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The researcher utilized ECLS-K's Public Use Data File and Electronic Codebook to create an SPSS syntax file in order to determine if …

Mathematics Achievement Of Regular Education Students By Placement In Inclusion And Non-Inclusion Classrooms And Their Principals' Perceptions Of Inclusion, Loretta Rodgers Hartfield

Dissertations

This study examined mathematics achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in Mississippi and principals' perceptions of inclusion.

A sample of 462 students from eight separate elementary schools was selected for this study. Fifteen principals completed the Principal and Inclusion Survey regarding inclusion education. Eight of the 15 principals were interviewed with 10 open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of inclusion.

Data were analyzed using an independent two-tailed t test and Pearson product moment correlation. The independent two-tailed / test was used to determine differences in mathematics achievement for fourth and fifth grade students in inclusion classrooms compared to non-inclusion classrooms …

Principal Efficacy: An Investigation Of School Principals' Sense Of Efficacy And Indicators Of School Effectiveness, Charles Wayne Lovell

Dissertations

At the individual school level, the responsibility for demonstrating school effectiveness lies on the shoulders of the building administrator. In fact, "it is widely accepted that good principals are the cornerstones of good schools and that, without a principal's leadership efforts to raise student achievement, schools cannot succeed" (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004, p. 573). However, federal, state, and local mandates have increased the pressure on school administrators to demonstrate effectiveness. As a result, the work of school administrators has changed. Furthermore, Fullan (2003) identifies a trend that demonstrates a dramatic decrease in the principal's perceptions of effectiveness, authority, trust, and …

The Advanced Placement And International Baccalaureate Programs: The Graduates' Perspective, Shannon Saxby Smith

Dissertations

This study was designed to solicit the perspectives of AP and IB graduates who have completed at least one semester of postsecondary education about their experiences while in their respective programs. This study was also conducted to determine whether these IB graduates report that they were better prepared for postsecondary studies than students who participated in the AP program. The researcher was also able to determine whether AP and IB graduates believed they experienced any long-term benefits or detriments by having been in their programs and whether they believed their experiences were worthwhile. Lastly, the researcher was able to determine …

A Pilot Study Of Organizational Performance, Performance Barriers And Faculty Engagement In The Nursing Education Unit, Yolanda Chapman Turner

Dissertations

This pilot study was driven by the problem of market disequilibrium and the subsequent overarching desire to identify and describe principles and processes taken by nursing education units to optimize market equilibrium for nursing service in response to cyclical market demands. Given the complexities of market responsiveness in conjunction with changes in healthcare delivery, health economics, population demographics, higher education and other contextual factors, it is essential for nursing education as a whole to be in a position to respond to demand. The purpose of this study was to investigate organizational performance, performance barriers and faculty engagement in the nursing …

Teacher Education Preparation Assessment System And The National Council For Accreditation Of Teacher Education Accreditation, Deborah Lynn Vaughan Stoulig

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the assessment systems of teacher preparation programs have changed since the new NCATE Standards were implemented in 2004, what methods of data collections are being used, and to measure coordinators' perceptions of the assessment systems. An electronic survey was developed by the researcher based upon a review of related literature, the researcher's personal experience, and years of reviewing data collection software. An invitation to the survey was emailed to 631 NCATE Coordinators or equivalent as identified from their institution's website with 221 participants completing the survey for a return rate of …

The Impact Of Multicultural Trade Books And An Intervention On Fourth Graders' Cultural Attitudes, Susan Herberger Whitcomb

Dissertations

As the United States population has become more diverse and the civil rights movement of the 1960s increased attentiveness to the change in population, the need for multicultural awareness has grown (Perry & Fraser, 1993). This study examined if teacher read alouds of multicultural trade books and a scripted instructional intervention could impact 187 fourth graders' cultural attitudes. The 10-session, 5-week study involved six reading teacher volunteers participating in one of the three group levels (treatment one: multicultural trade book read alouds, treatment two: multicultural trade books and a scripted instructional intervention, and treatment three: a control group). The mixed …

Determinants Of Resident Assistant Job Satisfaction In Privatized University Housing, Jennifer Lynn Casey

Dissertations

The general purpose of a residence life program is the improvement of the oncampus student experience in hopes of promoting personal growth, development, and education as well as bolstering retention rates and cultivating future alumni relationships. A residence life program can be found on most four year college and university campuses. Many colleges and universities facilitate their own residence life programs in whole or in part. Other colleges and universities outsource their residence life programs, in whole or in part, to what is called a privatized university housing company. The goals of a residence life program, be it facilitated by …

Gender Segregation In The Public Schools; Opportunity, Inequality, Or Both., Bill Piatt

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Should the public schools be allowed to segregate girls from boys in the classroom? There is a history of single-sex education in this country, but there are concerns about single gender classrooms. In recent decades, researchers have begun to assert that requiring boys and girls to be taught together has a negative impact on the educational progress because of inherent differences in boy/girl learning behavior, or even in the development of their brains. Proponents of gender exclusive classrooms point out the voluntary nature of the programs, and the explicit findings of the Department of Education justifying such programs. Opponents argue …