Digital Commons Network^™

Peer-To-Peer Support Responses To Lgbt Suicidal Ideations In An Online Community, Kayla Mccormick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

LGBTQ individuals, especially youth, are one of the top groups at risk for suicide. They experience social stigma and discrimination which diminishes their access to common support resources, causing many to turn to online communities for support for common issues. This paper utilizes qualitative content analysis guided by the stress-buffering model of the social support theory to investigate the helpfulness of informal social support responses in buffering stress in the suicidal individuals on LGBTchat.net. This model is based on the buffering hypothesis which asserts that persons with high stress and low support will show disproportionately elevated symptomatology, and that higher …

Diffusion Or Dissent: Examining International Family Planning Frames And Domestic Policy Divergence, Gillian C. Beach

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores how issue framing within an international advocacy movement influences and is influenced by the framing of the same issue within politically differentiated regimes, and examines this question through an analysis of the international family planning movement. Existing work on both policy diffusion and international advocacy presents strong evidence that the international community has a powerful effect on the framing and development of domestic policy. However, there is room for refinement of the literature in addressing how international actors affect policy trajectories within dissenting regimes---that is, regimes that espouse explicitly anti-Western ideologies, but which are nevertheless active in …

Protein And Peptide Gas-Phase Structure Investigation Using Collision Cross Section Measurements And Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange, Mahdiar Khakinejad

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Protein and peptide gas-phase structure analysis provides the opportunity to study these species outside of their explicit environment where the interaction network with surrounding molecules makes the analysis difficult [1]. Although gas-phase structure analysis offers a unique opportunity to study the intrinsic behavior of these biomolecules [2-4], proteins and peptides exhibit very low vapor pressures [2]. Peptide and protein ions can be rendered in the gas-phase using electrospray ionization (ESI) [5]. There is a growing body of literature that shows proteins and peptides can maintain solution structures during the process of ESI and these structures can persist for a few …

Revolutionary Pedagogy: A Historical Perspective On Improvising In Beethoven, Julia Kinderknecht

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation will investigate the historical significance and modern application of Beethoven's improvisations in performance, first by observing what we know through primary sources and eye-witness accounts, then by considering the reasons for the absence of improvisation in modern performance practice and the steps that could be taken towards reincorporating classical improvisation into modern pedagogy, and finally by offering historically-based improvisation exercises and written-out examples of improvisations in Beethoven's works to benefit modern pianists.

The Lived Experience Of Establishing A Home After A Period Of Homelessness, Monica Iaquinta

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the structure of meaning of the lived experience of establishing a home after a period of homelessness. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted using a unique line of inquiry based upon story theory and hermeneutic phenomenology. Questions were posed beginning with the present daily life in a home, followed by the previous experience of homelessness, and ending with establishing a home in the future. Stories were reconstructed, using the participant's own words, and confirmed during a second interview. The data analysis strategies were rooted in the theoretical framework including identifying essential statements, …

[Introduction To] Feeding The Flock: The Foundations Of Mormon Thought: Church And Praxis, Terryl L. Givens

Bookshelf

Feeding the Flock, the second volume of Terryl L. Givens's landmark study of the foundations of Mormon thought and practice, traces the essential contours of Mormon practice as it developed from Joseph Smith to the present. Despite the stigmatizing fascination with its social innovations (polygamy, communalism), its stark supernaturalism (angels, gold plates, and seer stones), and its most esoteric aspects (a New World Garden of Eden, sacred undergarments), as well as its long-standing outlier status among American Protestants, Givens reminds us that Mormonism remains the most enduring-and thriving-product of the nineteenth-century's religious upheavals and innovations. Because Mormonism is founded …

Affirmative Action Policy And Labour Market Structure: Evidence From Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Alothman

Plymouth Business School Theses

Few public and social policy subjects have attracted as much attention as Affirmative Action Policy (AAP) in social sciences. AAP’s main aim is to eliminate or prevent past discrimination against disadvantaged groups and to enhance their position in society. Its role has become controversial around the world. In Saudi Arabia, despite changes and improvements in laws and strategies, over past decades, to tackle the age-old issue of native unemployment, the problem is still deeply ingrained in society. This research has investigated the role, effectiveness and consequences of AAP on Saudi labour market structure. The research has employed a pragmatic methodology …

Emerging Adult Bereavement Experiences After The Death Of A Close Peer, Grissom Dynesha Mason

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the early bereavement experiences of emerging adults (ages 18 to 25) who have lost a close peer to death within the past 24 months. Data for this study were gathered through a semi-structured face-to-face or Skype interview, short essay, demographic questionnaire, member check, and brief field note. Eight African American men and women participated in this study. The majority of their peers died as a result of gun violence. Five themes emerged: (a) emerging adults had prior experiences of bereavement, (b) the extent to which emerging adults felt connected to their …

Perpetual Evolution: A School's-Focused Public Law Litigation Model For Our Day, James S. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

In celebrating the monumental accomplishments of the new form of public law litigation that Constance Baker Motley and her colleagues pioneered, this Essay reinterprets their paradigm-shifting body of work in a manner that obliges the current generation of civil rights advocates to change direction. In the hopes of reengaging the affirmative force of constitutional litigation after decades in which it has waned, this Essay argues that the central lesson to be derived from Motley’s generation lies not in the mode of public law litigation it pioneered but in the design of that litigation in the image of the dominant form …

Improving Undergraduate Student Retention At A Midwestern University, Christine Tracy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student retention in higher education has become a national problem. At a small midwestern university, the retention rate has been declining, and the freshman to sophomore retention rate was 64% in 2013. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to investigate ways to improve student retention. Tinto's theory of integration was used to explore the students' and administrators' perceptions of the factors that contribute to poor student retention to graduation. This study analyzed 519 student exit-forms from 2012-2015, 6 semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 10 administrators, and an analysis of university archival data. A thematic analysis of …

Exploring Strategies For Implementing Data Governance Practices, Ashley Cave

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Data governance reaches across the field of information technology and is increasingly important for big data efforts, regulatory compliance, and ensuring data integrity. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies for implementing data governance practices. This study was guided by institutional theory as the conceptual framework. The study's population consisted of informatics specialists from a small hospital, which is also a research institution in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. This study's data collection included semi structured, in-depth individual interviews (n = 10), focus groups (n = 3), and the analysis of organizational documents (n = 19). …

History Teachers' Perspectives Of Time Constraints, Engagement, And Relevance In The Curriculum, Christy Mimie Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the last 20 years, many state school administrators have reduced social studies instructional time in favor of time dedicated to reading or math skills due to the pressure of standardized testing. The purpose of this qualitative case study, which was based on constructivist theories about learning and schema theory, was to analyze teachers' perspectives on teaching history lessons, in terms of engagement and relevance, while working within new time constraints. Purposeful sampling was used to select 6 teachers for interviews; all had experience teaching social studies courses at the upper elementary and middle levels in a public school district …

Perceptions Of Ingratiation From The Perspective Of Retired Air Force Leaders, Kevin C. Dunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ingratiation is a deceptive, psychological tactic subordinates use to convince their supervisors to treat them better than other subordinates. Subordinate ingratiation is relatively well-known, but the concept of a manager promoting and encouraging ingratiative behaviors to subordinates is less common and seen as uncommonly deceptive. Little is known about how managers feel about ingratiation why any manager would encourage it. The purpose of this study was to explore how people in management positions percieve manager-encouraged ingratiation. Research questions addressed how people in management positions might respond to a scenario wherein a manager encouraged a subordinate employee to act out ingratiation. …

Clergy Academic Management Training In Non-Denominational Faith-Based Organizations, Patricia Anne Jenks-Greene

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is little research about how clerics manage and lead small to midsized non-denominational nonprofit organizations. The rate of clergy failures in non-denominational organizations has left many questions about what is needed to create organizational success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of clergy manager-leaders' management training in non-denominational organizations. Fourteen full-time clerics from Bloomingdale, Georgia, Rincon, Georgia, and Savannah, Georgia participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The data analysis process involved the use of Edward and Welch's extension of Colaizzi's data analysis procedures, which resulted in the emergence of 4 themes. …

The Intersection Of Race, Gender And The School To Prison Pipeline: A Case Study On The Impact Of Exclusionary Discipline On African American Girls, Karen Nicole Wallace

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Exclusionary discipline in school contributes to gender and racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system and marginalizes African American girls. Using the social justice and rational choice theories as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to explore the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes contribute to the overrepresentation of the school to prison pipeline in Virginia. The central research question focused on the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes on the overrepresentation of African American girls in the school to prison pipeline. Employing …

An Inquiry Into Factors Of Leadership And Cohesion In Complex Teams, Jeffrey White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The external competitive environments and internal group dynamics of organizations are increasing in complexity resulting in new challenges for organizational leaders to improve performance in underperforming teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address what factors led to high-innovation outcomes in complex adaptive systems using a framework constructed from elements of complexity leadership theory and group dynamics research. An in-depth interviewing approach was used to collect data on the lived experience and meaning the participants attributed to their experiences regarding improved team performance. A total of 21 participants were selected from multiple business settings where their team experienced …

Teamwork Perceptions Of Nurses And Nursing Assistants In A Community Hospital, Iwona Halina Enzinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teamwork in healthcare is recognized as a significant factor in achieving patient safety and impacting patient outcomes. Despite the general focus on teamwork in healthcare, there has been little research on teamwork among nurses and nursing assistants working on patient care units. The purpose of this doctoral project was to identify, compare, and analyze perceptions of teamwork in a group of nurses and nursing assistants in a community hospital setting where the TeamSTEPPS program has been implemented. The framework of this project was the concept of shared mental model and Imogene King's conceptual system and middle-range theory of goal attainment. …

Mobile Collaborative Learning For Female Baby Boomer Students In Canadian Higher Education, Holly Cp Chun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female baby boomer students (born 1946-1964) need to augment their skills in mobile collaborative learning because current knowledge of technologies is essential for making informed decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine the need to promote technologies based on the experiences of female baby boomer students. Andragogy and constructivism provided the conceptual framework for this research. The research questions were devised to investigate female boomer students' collaborative experiences using smart devices and barriers to their adoption of technology. This phenomenological study included 8 participants from a Canadian university recruited through purposeful sampling. Per the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, data …

Reducing Health Disparities In African American Communities Through Church And Federal Partnerships, Shelia Lassiter Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified persistent disparities in health care resources as the primary causes of mortality among minority populations. An underexplored resource for affected African American populations is the church, which is not a recognized stakeholder in the implementation of current health care policy. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to gather perspectives from African American parishioners who lacked sufficient health care insurance on the roles the church could play. Qualitative data management software was used to organize the data …

Strategies To Overcome The Nursing Shortage, Edward A. Mehdaova

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nursing shortage is a growing problem in the healthcare industry as hospital leaders are experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining nurses. Guided by the PESTEL framework theory, the purpose of this case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders use to overcome a nursing shortage. Participants were 5 healthcare leaders who have the knowledge and experience in recruitment and retention of registered nurses in a healthcare facility in Seattle, Washington. Data were collected through audio-recorded semistructured interviews and document review of the Hospital Employee Education and Training Program. Data analysis consisted of documenting the data, organizing and categorizing the data, connecting …

Customer Relationship Management Strategies At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Johnny Balman Mcdonald

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically Black colleges and university managers lack sufficient understanding of customer-relationship management strategies to create high enrollment rates leading to increased financial stability. The focus of this qualitative single case study was to explore customer-relationship management strategies managers use to improve financial performance from historically Black colleges and universities located within the state of Georgia with a student enrollment that exceeds 2,000 students. The conceptual framework for this study was the general system theory. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and employee handbooks. The data analysis consisted of compiling the data, disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data …

Medical Floor Confusion Assessment Method: Implementation And Assessment Of Risk Factors, Michaelynn R. Paul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An estimated 50% of older hospitalized patients experience delirium. This has created significant complications costing an estimated $164 billion or more per year worldwide. The ability to identify patients developing delirium would allow the implementation of specific interventions to decrease or eliminate the adverse effects of delirium. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to provide high quality delirium education to determine if medical unit nursing staff could successful implement the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) screening tool to identify patients experiencing delirium as the first phase of an overall plan. Implementation of the project followed Roger's diffusion of innovations …

Men's Sexual Coerciveness, Perceptions Of Women's Attachment, And Dating Preferences, Lucie Holmgreen, Debra L. Oswald

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This study examined whether sexually coercive men are uniquely drawn to certain attachment styles in women. Specifically, it employed an experimental design to investigate what sorts of inferences men draw about women based on women's attachment styles and whether a woman's attachment style may serve as an indicator of vulnerability, rendering sexually coercive men more attracted to some women than to others. One-hundred thirty-six college men completed a measure of sexual coerciveness and answered questions about personal ads experimentally manipulated for portrayed attachment style. Findings suggest that sexually coercive men may be more attracted to women with characteristics associated with …

Exploring Strategies For Successful Implementation Of Electronic Health Records, Richard Alton Warren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems in nonfederal acute care hospitals has increased, with adoption rates across the United States reaching as high as 94%. Of the 330 plus acute care hospital EHR implementations in Texas, only 31% have completed attestation to Stage 2 of the meaningful use (MU) criteria. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that hospital chief information officers (CIOs) used for the successful implementation of EHR. The target population consists of 3 hospitals CIOs from a multi-county region in North Central Texas who successfully implemented EHRs meeting Stage 2 MU criteria. …

Military Children’S Difficulty With Reintegration After Deployment: A Relational Turbulence Model Perspective, Leanne K. Knobloch, Lynne M. Knobloch-Fedders, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Aaron T. Ebata, Patricia C. Mcglaughlin

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This study drew on the relational turbulence model to investigate how the interpersonal dynamics of military couples predict parents’ reports of the reintegration difficulty of military children upon homecoming after deployment. Longitudinal data were collected from 118 military couples once per month for 3 consecutive months after reunion. Military couples reported on their depressive symptoms, characteristics of their romantic relationship, and the reintegration difficulty of their oldest child. Results of dyadic growth curve models indicated that the mean levels of parents’ depressive symptoms (H1), relationship uncertainty (H2), and interference from a partner (H3) were positively associated with parents’ reports of …

Reflector Magazine, Georgia Southern University, Student Media

Reflector Magazine

• Gnat's Landing: A Place You'll Always Want To Come Back To
• Food For Thought
• A Town For Recovery
• Basics of Birth Control
• Hop Into This Spring's New Trends
• Basics of Birth Control
• Hop Into This Spring's New Trends
• Kratom: The Lesser-Known Herb Fighting for Equality
• Traveling in Your 20's
• Career Tips For College Students
• Paying the Price for Higher Education
• Pros vs. Cons: A Glance at Business vs Liberal Arts Degrees
• Underground Statesboro
• The Art of Fiction: The Importance and Relevance of Political Media

Effective Strategies Of Military Veteran Small Business Owners, John F. Groves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses owned by military veterans represent a source of new jobs, yet more than half of these businesses fail to survive beyond 5 years. These failures could lead to efforts to identify strategies that owners can use to avoid failure. The conceptual framework applied in this case study was the triple-loop learning theory. The purposive sampling included 7 military veterans who were small business owners who had sustained their small businesses more than 5 years. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and organization documents. Yin's 5-step process for data analysis compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding resulted in 4 …

Individual And Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Childhood Immunization Coverage In Nigeria, Obinna Ositadimma Oleribe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Immunization remains one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions worldwide. The purpose of this study was to examine the individual and socioeconomic factors that influence childhood immunization coverage in Nigeria. The health belief model and the social ecological model were used as the theoretical framework for the study, which examined the effects of individual, parental, and socioeconomic factors on complete immunization among Nigerian children. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate tests were conducted within a secondary analysis of 2013 Nigerian National Demographic and Health Survey was done. Of 27,571 children aged 0 to 59 months, 22.1% had full vaccination …

Effectiveness Of Hands-On Pedagogy In Stem Education, John Kyere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the low enrollment in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at the high school and college levels, administrators at the local school district have been struggling to improve elementary school students' performance in math and science. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the STEM program using hands-on instruction facilitated by professional development (PD) activities. Guided by Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky' constructivism theory, the qualitative program evaluation using the research questions examined the success of the STEM program using a hands-on instructional approach and the PD support that teachers need to be …

Strategies To Teach Customer Service Skills, James Francis Ortman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business managers' failure to retain dissatisfied customers leads to millions of dollars in lost revenue. The purpose of this single case study was to explore managers' training strategies to teach sales associates customer service skills. The sample included 3 training managers from the mobile phone industry in Michigan who recorded a 25 % increase in customer retention after implementing customer service training. The conceptual framework for this study was human capital theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and training documents. Data analysis entailed using coding techniques and cluster analysis. Member checking applied to clarify the interpretation of participants' responses …