Digital Commons Network^™

The Importance Of Fatherhood To U.S. Married And Cohabiting Men, Veronica Tichenor, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, Raleigh Contreras, Karina M. Shreffler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using a non-hierarchical approach to identity theory, we construct a scale to analyze the characteristics associated with the importance of fatherhood in a national sample of male partners (N = 932) of U.S. women of reproductive age, including fathers and non-fathers. OLS multiple regression shows that economic situation is not associated with importance of fatherhood, but valuing career success, higher education, higher religiosity and non-egalitarian gender attitudes (compared to egalitarian) are associated with higher importance of fatherhood scores. Leisure, age, fertility problems, and non-egalitarian gender attitudes are associated with importance of fatherhood scores differently for fathers and non-fathers. Although fathers …

The Human-Environment Dialog In Award-Winning Children’S Picture Books, J. Allen Williams, Christopher Podeschi, Nathan Palmer, Philip Schwadel, Deanna Meyler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children’s books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a …

Age, Period, And Cohort Effects On Religious Activities And Beliefs, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Despite the theoretical emphasis on religious decline in modern societies, sociologists remain divided over trends in religious activity and belief that support or refute claims of religious decline. Much of this disagreement stems from the inability to distinguish between period and cohort effects when analyzing repeated cross-sectional survey data. I use the intrinsic estimator, a recently developed method of simultaneously estimating age, period, and cohort effects, to examine changes in Americans’ religious service attendance, prayer, belief in the afterlife, and biblical literalism. Results show that regular service attendance declines, predominantly across cohorts. There are also period-and cohort-based declines in biblical …

Predictors Of Change In Self-Reported Social Networks Among Homeless Young People, Christina D. Falci, Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt, Trina Rose

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This research investigates changes in social network size and composition of 351 homeless adolescents over 3 years. Findings show that network size decreases over time. Homeless youth with a conduct disorder begin street life with small networks that remain small over time. Caregiver abuse is associated with smaller emotional networks due to fewer home ties, especially to parents, and a more rapid loss of emotional home ties over time. Homeless youth with major depression start out with small networks, but are more likely to maintain network ties. Youth with substance abuse problems are more likely to maintain instrumental home ties. …

Heterogeneity And Its Impact On Thermal Robustness And Attractor Density, Yuri Cantor, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

There is considerable research relating the structure of Boolean networks to their state space dynamics. In this paper, we extend the standard model to include the effects of thermal noise, which has the potential to deflect the trajectory of a dynamical system within its state space, sending it from one stable attractor to another. We introduce a new “thermal robustness” measure, which quantifies a Boolean network’s resilience to such deflections. In particular, we investigate the impact of structural homogeneity on two dynamical properties: thermal robustness and attractor density. Through computational experiments on cyclic Boolean networks, we ascertain that as a …

An Exploration And Analysis Of The Evolving Bank Corporate Governance Practices In Egypt: A Grounded Theory Approach, Mohamed Karim Sorour

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of corporate governance in the Egyptian banking sector (EBS); it aims to understand the nature of corporate governance in this context and identify the factors shaping it. Especially that these aspects had been ignored by the literature. Through grounded theory methodology, an empirical study of the nature of corporate governance in the EBS is undertaken, it identifies the factors affecting corporate governance in the EBS, the interests corporate governance is serving and as such outline the model of corporate governance prevailing in the EBS. Grounded theory methodology is illustrated by the thesis in the following …

Dementia Caregiving Outcomes: The Impact Of Caregiving Onset, Role Occupancy, And Care-Recipient Decline, Katherina Nikzad-Terhune

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Dementia is characterized as a progressive loss of brain function that results in the deterioration of many cognitive and physical abilities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, causing steady declines in memory, functional abilities, and mental functioning. With a projected increase of degenerative illnesses, such as AD, family caregiving for individuals with the disease is also steadily increasing. Caring for an individual with AD has been characterized as a “career,” and within this career are a number of key transitions, including the onset of caregiving. Preexisting caregiving research reveals a number of negative consequences for AD …

The Effects Of Positive Cognitions On The Relationship Between Alienation And Resourcefulness In Nursing Students In Egypt, Abir K. Bekhet, Mervat Elguenidi, Jaclene A. Zauszniewski

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Alienation is a subjective state, a feeling of being a stranger, as if one were not one's normal self. It is also a sense of homelessness; a feeling of uneasiness or discomfort, which signifies the person's exclusion from social or cultural participation. Alienation can adversely affect healthy functioning of nursing students. Nursing students are the adolescents of today and the nurses of tomorrow who will deal with human behavior, and their psychological well-being will be important in managing their clients’ conditions. Healthy nursing students are likely to become healthy nurses who can then model and promote healthy lifestyles for their …

Measuring Use Of Resourcefulness Skills: Psychometric Testing Of A New Scale, Abir K. Bekhet

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Highly resourceful individuals have been found better able to meet life's challenges and to experience more positive health outcomes. Although psychometrically sound measures of resourcefulness exist and resourcefulness training trials show that the intervention increases adaptive functioning and enhances quality of life, there is no direct measure of intervention fidelity. This study examined the reliability and validity of an 8-item Resourcefulness Skills Scale (RSS), which measures the frequency with which intervention recipients use specific resourcefulness skills. The RSS was found to have acceptable internal consistency (� = .78), criterion-related validity (�'s = .50 and .52 with other resourcefulness scales), and …

Collaborative Planning And Prewriting : The Effects Of Structured Peer Collaborations On Primary-Age Students' Writing Development, Mary Elizabeth Niesyn

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

The Frequency Of Implementation Of Lasallian Pedagogy In Traditional College-Preparatory High Schools Sponsored By The De La Salle Christian Brothers In The United States, Kristopher White

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the De La Salle Christian Brothers have re-examined the charism of their founder, St. John Baptist De La Salle, and the meaning of their founding documents in light of modern circumstances. Only recently have Lasallian scholars (Campos & Sauvage, 1981, 1999; Lauraire, 2004, 2006; Poutet, 1997; Van Grieken, 1995, 1999) been bridging the gap between the spiritual awareness of the Lasallian charism and the implications for classroom practice.

This study established a baseline measurement for the frequency of implementation of Lasallian pedagogy according to the seven dimensions of Lasallian pedagogy, as defined by White …

A Quantitative Study Of The Relationship Between Faith Formation Opportunities And The Religiosity Of Lay Educators In Catholic Secondary Schools, Douglas R. Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Re-Imagining Individual And Communal Identity : Corporate Mergers, Susan Duvall-Dickson

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

A Qualitative Study Of The Involvement Of Parents In Career Decisions Of Millennial Participants In Corporate Rotational Programs, Tommy Moreno

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Elementary Teachers' Views Of Environmental Education, Rose M. Hotchkiss

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine teachers' views of environmental education (EE) at the elementary level. The study addresses teachers' attitudes toward the EE at the elementary school level and their self-efficacy in teaching EE.

The study's sample consisted of 201 randomly selected kindergarten through fifth grade United States public school teachers. The participants completed an on-line survey with eight percent of the respondents participating in follow up interviews. The questionnaire measured two constructs; Teachers Attitudes Toward EE and Teacher Efficacy in EE. Teachers Attitudes Toward EE had 3 subscales; Advocacy for EE, Stewardship in EE, …

How “Struggling” Readers Engage In Literacy Events In Middle School Science: An Analysis Of Interactions In Literacy Events, Kristin Cartwright Palmer

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

This study examined opportunities for participation and learning for "struggling" readers in a sixth grade science classroom. Literacy practices, language differences, activity structures, and the social and cultural identities and associated practices and everyday funds of knowledge of both "struggling" and nonstruggling readers in one sixth grade science classroom were documented and analyzed using a qualitative research design. Over sixteen hours of audio and video recordings as well as numerous student work samples were transcribed and analyzed. Analyses of the classroom interactions and artifacts documented in this study revealed several important affordances available in the context of this classroom related …

Making Sense Of Women’S Career Progression: Utilization Of Work/Life Practices In State Government Agencies, Maria J. D'Agostino

Publications and Research

In an effort to make sense of the work/life balance quandary, this article discusses preliminary results of a broader research project (D‘Agostino and Levine 2009) empirically examining the utilization of work/life practices by women in state-level government in the United States.. The purpose of this research is to examine whether women‘s utilization of work/life practices contributes to their career progression. Therefore, the central research question examines, what is the impact of work/life utilization practices on women’s career progression? Findings indicate that women who have reached executive level positions are more likely to utilize specific practices, such as flexible hours, than …

Choosing To Serve: Modeling Antecedents Of Public Service Motivation In Undergraduate Students, Vivian Walker Greentree

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This research builds upon the public service literature to better understand the distinctive nature of motivations associated with pursuing careers in the public sector. Previous research has shown that a wide variety of socialization experiences help to develop one's public service motivation (PSM). However, the research has fallen short of providing a comprehensive explanation. Additionally, a majority of the research focuses on those already employed in the public sector, with a dearth of exploration into students' preferences. This study utilized Perry's (1996) original survey instrument to measure PSM scores (both composite and dimensions) in college students, those who we must …

The Relationship Of Financial Performance, Quality Indicators, And The Role Of Nurse Executives In Virginia Nursing Homes, Jeany V. Murphy

Health Services Research Dissertations

Problem statement. The dynamic nature of the healthcare industry has triggered changes in nurse executive functions. The job has expanded into entrepreneurial roles to be able to provide the most cost effective services while maintaining good quality outcomes for the residents. The new responsibility requires a different set of knowledge and competencies that is usually achieved through advanced education. It is not known whether nurse executives in long term care in Virginia possess the skills to influence both the financial and quality outcomes of the facility.

Methods. This descriptive research study examined the relationship of the nurse executives' technical, human, …

Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Nanostructured Tandem Solar Cells: Simulation And Fabrication Methods, Patrick Michael Boland Jr.

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organic solar cell technologies continue to be an extremely active area of scientific research. With their promise of providing low-cost, easily-processable, multi-application photovoltaics, these devices could very possibly be the most viable and practical form of renewable energy among many being explored. However, significant technological obstacles remain that must be overcome if this technology is to successfully realize the goal of providing abundant energy while simultaneously reducing dependence on fossil fuel-based sources. Compared with inorganic solar photovoltaics, power conversion efficiencies in organics are still too low to compete economically.

Much research has been accomplished over the past three decades in …

Collective Efficacy And Intimate Partner Violence: Community Context, Catherine B. Cowling

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Intimate partner violence is a very serious issue in the United States. In spite of improvements, there is still much work to be done. Policies focusing on formal controls such as arrest, orders of protection, and prosecution have questionable potential. However, collective efficacy and the examination of community context have much to offer the field of intimate partner violence. Collective efficacy, comprised of social cohesion, social capital, and informal social control, may be more effective in reducing intimate partner violence than use of traditional formal social controls alone. These community context variables may also be of great assistance in improving …

The Relationship Between International Migration And Regional Integration, Christopher C. White

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation challenges prevailing assumptions of a strong connection between international migration and regional integration by arguing there is no substantial relationship between them and that these issues should not be conflated. International migration and regional integration are extraordinarily important forces shaping the current international system and the recent wave of globalization has brought with it a new level of fear and uncertainty surrounding these critical issues. Migration and integration are highly contentious and divisive subjects in and of themselves, but the relationship between them is largely misunderstood and tends to skew toward panicked hyperbole by publics and policymakers alike. …

Context, Choice, And Rights: Phs Community Services Society V. Canada (Attorney General), Margot Young

All Faculty Publications

Constitutional law cases that revolve around the rights or circumstances of those groups most marginalized in Canadian society are not frequent cause for celebration. Typically, these cases push the boundaries of classical liberal understandings of the rights our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects, asking the courts to recognize social and economic dimensions to liberties that are traditionally and popularly more narrowly construed. Such demands are more often than not sidestepped (or rejected outright) by courts, with the result that activist agendas focusing on leveraging Charter rights to achieve significant social change are less compelling than initially imagined. It …

We Are The (National) Champions: Understanding The Mechanisms Of State Capitalism In China, Li-Wen Lin, Curtis J. Milhaupt

All Faculty Publications

While China appears to present a new variety of capitalism, frequently labeled "state capitalism," the features of this system - particularly the organizational structure surrounding China’s most important state-owned enterprises (the national champions) - remains a black box. Corporate governance scholarship on China has focused on listed firms, but listed SOEs in China are nested in vertically integrated corporate groups, and the groups are strategically linked to other business groups, as well as to the Communist Party and to governmental organs. While the parent company of the listed firms has a governmental controlling shareholder in the form of an agency …

The Impact Of Emergent Technologies On Interpersonal And Community Interaction Of The Future : A Thematic Analysis Of Selected Novels Of William Gibson And Vernor Vinge, Lyn Motai

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Macro- And Micro-Level Effects On Responsive Financial Regulation, Cristie Ford

All Faculty Publications

We are approaching the 20th anniversary of Ian Ayres’ and John Braithwaite’s 1992 book, Responsive Regulation. This paper, which was prepared for a September 2010 workshop at UBC, considers the implications of the recent financial crisis for Ayres’ and Braithwaite’s concept of “enforced self-regulation.” Its main thesis is that flexible and iterative regulatory strategies, such as enforced self-regulation and its progeny, are more porous to influence from different planes of action than prescriptive regulation would be. When focusing on technical regulatory design strategies, scholars should therefore be cautious about bracketing or underestimating the problem of power operating at the “macro …

Risk Clusters, Hotspots, And Spatial Intelligence: Risk Terrain Modeling As An Algorithm For Police Resource Allocation Strategies, Leslie W. Kennedy, Joel M. Caplan, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

The study reported here follows the suggestion by Caplan et al. (Justice Q, 2010) that risk terrain modeling (RTM) be developed by doing more work to elaborate, operationalize, and test variables that would provide added value to its application in police operations. Building on the ideas presented by Caplan et al., we address three important issues related to RTM that sets it apart from current approaches to spatial crime analysis. First, we address the selection criteria used in determining which risk layers to include in risk terrain models. Second, we compare the ‘‘best model’’ risk terrain derived from our analysis …

Education And Risky Sex In Africa: Unraveling The Link Between Women’S Education And Reproductive Health Behaviors In Kenya, Amy Adamczyk, Meredith Greif

Publications and Research

Much research attention has been devoted to understanding the relationship between education and riskier sex-related behaviors and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. While in the early 1990s researchers found that increases in education were associated with a higher incidence of HIV/AIDS, this relationship appears to have reversed and better educated people, especially women, appear less likely to engage in riskier sex-related behaviors and have a lower incidence rate of HIV/AIDS. Our study begins to unravel the mechanisms that could explain why women’s educational attainment is associated with safer sex-related behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the 2003 Kenyan Demographic and …

Terrorism: A Guide To Resources, Karen Okamoto, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

Prior to 9/11, terrorism was subject to political, scholarly, and media debates. A large body of literature on the topic reflected researchers’ long-standing interest in the topic. In the near decade since 9/11, terrorism and its threat have only gained urgency. This paper aims to provide a selected bibliography of resources, in print and electronic format, that focus on terrorism. Public and academic libraries have been providing access to terrorism-related resources, but no thematic bibliography has been published in professional journals since 2001. This guide aims to aid librarians in making decisions about developing and maintaining collections on the topic.

Religion And Volunteering In Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, Meredith J. Grief, Amy Adamczyk, Jacob Felson

Publications and Research

Much research has examined the relationship between religion and civic engagement, finding that more religious people are more likely to donate their time, energy, and money to community organizations. The overwhelming majority of the quantitative research on the relationship between religion and civic engagement has been done in Europe and North America. However, we know that many people living in sub-Saharan Africa volunteer their time, and because of the many economic, social, and health problems that plague the continent, the need for local volunteers is particularly acute. This article uses data from the 2000 World Values Survey and multivariate regression …