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Human-Intelligence And Machine-Intelligence Decision Governance Formal Ontology, Faisal Mahmud

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Since the beginning of the human race, decision making and rational thinking played a pivotal role for mankind to either exist and succeed or fail and become extinct. Self-awareness, cognitive thinking, creativity, and emotional magnitude allowed us to advance civilization and to take further steps toward achieving previously unreachable goals. From the invention of wheels to rockets and telegraph to satellite, all technological ventures went through many upgrades and updates. Recently, increasing computer CPU power and memory capacity contributed to smarter and faster computing appliances that, in turn, have accelerated the integration into and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in …

Exploring Critical Success Factors Of Community Development Projects, Kevin Wanjama Muchiri

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The utilization of Community Development Projects in developing nations continues to increase in significance. In the wake of the latest Sustainable Development Goals, developing nations are working towards eliminating poverty, promoting sustainable cities and communities, gender equality, and health and well-being. Although Community Development Projects have become prevalent, the challenge has been that some are successful, while others fail. This dissertation investigates what makes Community Development Projects successful.

This dissertation implemented a comprehensive quantitative analysis using data collected from over one hundred community development projects obtained from The World Bank database. These projects took place in developing nations around the …

Inclusive Work Practices: Turnover Intentions Among Lgbt Employees Of The U.S. Federal Government, Meghna Sabharwal, Helisse Levine, Maria J. D’Agostino, Tiffany Nguyen

Publications and Research

The federal government lags behind in progressive civil rights policies in regard to universal workplace antidiscrimination laws for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. The slow progress matters to inclusionary workplace practices and the theory and practice of public administration generally, as recognition of LGBT rights and protection are constitutive of representative bureaucracy and promoting social equity. This study examines the turnover intention rates of self-identified LGBT employees in the U.S. federal government. Using the Office of Personnel Management’s inclusion quotient (IQ), and 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), we identify links in the relationships between workplace inclusion and …

Script Analysis Of Open-Air Drug Selling: A Systematic Social Observation Of Cctv Footage, Victoria A. Sytsma, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Objectives: Through the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) video foo- tage, the current study builds upon the drug transaction work of Piza and Sytsma by developing a crime script for open-air drug selling.

Methods: Researchers conducted a systematic social observation of CCTV footage of open-air drug markets in Newark, NJ. The data were used to identify sequential stages of drug transactions. Fisher’s exact tests measured whether buyer and seller activities during specific acts of the drug transaction event were related to activities seen in subsequent stages.

Results: This study finds three distinct acts to open-air drug events. During the pretransaction …

The Crime Prevention Effect Of Cctv In Public Places: A Propensity Score Analysis, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

This study measures the effect of CCTV in Newark, NJ across three separate crime categories: auto theft, theft from auto, and violent crime. CCTV viewsheds, denoting camera line-of-sight, were units of analysis. Viewsheds for treatment units were created by digitizing live CCTV footage within a geographic information system (GIS). Control viewsheds were created with GIS tools and aerial imagery from Google maps. Treatment cases were matched with control cases via propensity score matching (PSM) to ensure statistical equivalency between groups. Effect was measured via odds ratios and average treatment on the treated statistics. Findings offer modest support for CCTV as …

Measuring The Effect Heterogeneity Of Police Enforcement Actions Across Spatial Contexts, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Purpose: This study tests whether the effect of police actions is influenced by similar crime generators and attractors (CGAs) that influence crime. Said differently, in recognition that the presence of CGAs presents higher risk of crime at certain places, we test whether CGAs similarly create a situation where specific police enforcement actions are more effective at certain types of places than others.

Methods: Using longitudinal logistic regression models incorporating panel data, we measure the effect of various police enforcement actions on gun violence in Newark, NJ. Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM) was further used to test whether the effect of the …

The History, Policy Implications, And Knowledge Gaps Of The Cctv Literature: Insights For The Development Of Body-Worn Video Camera Research, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) and body-worn video cameras (BWVCs) have rapidly spread throughout policing. Such widespread deployment has heightened the importance of identifying best practices for both of these technologies. The research community has worked toward the identification of such best practices, with bodies of knowledge emerging for both CCTV and BWVCs over recent decades. Given its earlier emergence, research on CCTV is more developed. Nonetheless, the BWVC literature is quickly becoming robust, with BWVC research developing at a much more rapid pace than research on most other police technologies. This essay reviews the CCTV and BWVC literatures across four main …

The Effect Of Various Police Enforcement Actions On Violent Crime: Evidence From A Saturation Foot-Patrol Intervention, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

The current study tests the crime prevention effect of different police actions conducted during a foot-patrol saturation initiative in Newark, New Jersey. Police actions were categorized into two typologies: enforcement actions (i.e., arrests, quality of life summonses and field interrogations) and guardian actions (i.e., business checks, citizen contacts, bus checks, and taxi inspections). Logistic regression models tested the effect of enforcement and guardian actions on crime during daily (i.e., 24-hr) periods as well as the intervention’s operational (6:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.) and nonoperational (2:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) periods. Analyses were conducted twice, once for the Operation Impact target area and once for …

Taiwan – Community-Building, Civil Society, And Civic Activism: Promises And Predicaments, Anru Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Facilitators And Impediments To Designing, Implementing, And Evaluating Risk-Based Policing Strategies Using Risk Terrain Modeling: Insights From A Multi-City Evaluation In The United States, Eric L. Piza, Les W. Kennedy, Joel M. Caplan

Publications and Research

The contemporary policing literature contains numerous examples of partnerships between academic researchers and police agencies. Such efforts have greatly contributed to evidence-based policing by increasing the knowledge base on effective strategies. However, research has demonstrated that successful collaboration between researchers and practitioners can be a challenge, with various organizational and inter-agency factors presenting difficulties at various stages of the process. Additionally, applied research can oftentimes face implementation challenges when the time comes to convert research into practice. The current study contributes to the literature by discussing researcher/practitioner partnerships and program implementation in the context of a multi-city risk-based policing project …

Very Long Engagements: The Persistent Authority Of Bridewealth In A Post-Apartheid South African Community, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

This article examines the persistent authority of the customary practice for forming recognized marriages in many South African communities, centered on bridewealth and called “lobola.” Marriage rates have sharply fallen in South Africa, and many South Africans blame this on the difficulty of completing lobola amid intense economic strife. Using in-depth qualitative research from a village in KwaZulu-Natal, where lobola demands are the country’s highest and marriage rates its lowest, I argue that lobola’s authority survives because lay actors, and especially women, have innovated new repertoires of lobola behavior that allow them to pursue emerging needs and desires for marriage …

Understanding Americans’ Abortion Attitudes: The Role Of The Local Religious Context, Amy Adamczyk, Margrét Valdimarsdóttir,

Publications and Research

Although abortion became legal over 40 years ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. Personal religious beliefs and behaviors have emerged as some of the most important factors shaping disapproval. Despite religion's importance, very little attention has been given to how the local religious context may shape views and abortion access. Using data from the General Social Survey (N = 6922) that has geographical identifiers, we examine the role of the local religious context for shaping attitudes and the presence of a county abortion clinic. We find that as the level of county religious engagement rises, religious and secular …

Effects Of Geography On Mental Health Disparities On Sexual Minorities In New York City, Jacob Felson, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

Gay and lesbian individuals have higher rates of psychological distress than do heterosexual individuals. The minority stress hypothesis attributes this disparity to adversity related stress experienced by sexual minorities. In support of this idea, research in the U.S. has generally found that mental health disparities between sexual minorities and others are narrower in places where tolerance is relatively high. However, few studies have examined disparities between sexual minorities and others in neighborhoods where sexual minorities are most highly concentrated. Likewise, little research attention has been given to disparities for people who move to more tolerant places from less tolerant states …

Newspaper Presentations Of Homosexuality Across Nations: Examining Differences By Religion, Economic Development, And Democracy, Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim, Margaret Schumel

Publications and Research

A lot of research attention has been devoted to understanding cross-national differences in attitudes about homosexuality. A key finding has been that richer, more democratic, and less religious nations are more supportive. However, aside from establishing these relationships, we know little about how public discourse about homosexuality differs across nations. To better understand how public discussions about sexual minorities are framed, this multimethods’ study examines over 800 newspaper articles from Muslim and Protestant-majority nations. Although there are no differences in the extent to which Muslim and Protestant nations discuss homosexuality in the context of religion, Muslim nations are more likely …

Cardozo's "Law And Literature": A Guide To His Judicial Writing Style, Richard H. Weisberg

Articles

The article discusses Benjamin N. Cardozo's essay "Law and Literature," which emphasizes the essential unity of style and substance in legal writing. Cardozo argues against the notion that law and literature are separate domains, asserting that effective legal communication requires a harmonious integration of form and function. He advocates for a judicial writing style that prioritizes clarity, precision, and the "magisterial" approach, which eschews ornamentation in favor of substance.

Registered Nurses' Experiences Of Passing The Nclex-Rn After More Than One Attempt, Tammy L. Kasprovich, Leona Vandevusse

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background:

In the past decade, little research has been conducted regarding individuals' stories about not initially being successful on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. An unsuccessful licensure examination attempt may affect the individual personally and profoundly in ways that could influence their future success.

Method:

Individual in-depth interviews were conducted once with 15 RNs who were initially unsuccessful on the licensure examination and subsequently passed. Data analyses were conducted using both manual and electronic coding through thematic identification. Rigor was ensured by meeting quality criteria for qualitative research.

Results:

Four themes were identified: (a) Pressures all Around, …

Health-Related Quality Of Life Of Older Adults In Costa Rica As Measured By The Short-Form-36 Health Survey, Esmeralda Valdivieso-Mora, Mirjana Ivanisevic, Leslie A. Shaw, Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal, Zachary D. Green, Monica Salazar-Villanea, Jose Moncada-Jimenez, David K. Johnson

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To test the validity of a common measure of health-related quality of life (Short-Form-36 [SF-36]) in cognitively healthy older adults living in rural and urban Costa Rica. Method: Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to SF-36 data collected in 250 older adults from San Jose and Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Results: The best fitting model for the SF-36 was an eight first-order factor structure. A high correlation between the Mental Component Summary and Physical Component Summary scores was found. Region differences indicated that rural dwellers perceive a poorer health-related quality of life compared with the urban group. Discussion: Costa Rican older …

Sexual Risk Behaviors Of African American Adolescent Females: The Role Of Cognitive And Religious Factors, Safiya George Dalmida, Natasha Aduloju-Ajijola, Dora L. Clayton-Jones, Tami Thomas, Ricardo J. Erazo Toscano, Rashunda Lewis, Terri Fleming, Shirley Taylor, Macie Lunyong

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction: African American (AA) high school-age girls are more likely to have had sex before age 13 years and have higher rates of all sexually transmitted infections. Cognition and religion/spirituality are associated with adolescent sexuality, therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify cognitive and religious substrates of AA girls’ risky sexual behaviors. Method: A descriptive study was conducted with 65 AA girls aged 15 to 20 years using computerized questionnaires and cognitive function tasks. Results: Average age was 17.8 ± 1.9 years and average sexual initiation age was 15.5 ± 2.6 years. Overall, 57.6% reported a history of …

Combating Russian Disinformation In Ukraine: Case Studies In A Market For Loyalties, Monroe E. Price, Adam P. Barry

Articles

The article examines how Ukraine has responded to Russian disinformation through two distinct projects: the Guidelines Project and the Words and Wars Project. These initiatives represent different approaches to combating disinformation, with the Guidelines Project emphasizing international norms and consensus-building, while the Words and Wars Project focuses on directly countering Russian tactics. The analysis highlights how the structure, stakeholders, and funding of these projects shape their recommendations and outcomes, underscoring the tension between national security and freedom of expression.

The Poor And Marginalized Among Us: Contingent Faculty In Jesuit Universities, Christina Pawls, Richard D. Clark, Carrie Buchanan

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Faculty of institutions of higher learning have an opportunity to discuss, debate,and discern how to create workplaces that are just and inclusive.As members of Jesuit institutions, wehave a moral obligation to do so. How, then, can Jesuit universities justify the poor treatment of contingent faculty, who are now a majority not just in our institutions but in the country as a whole? Tenure-track employment is a fading tradition in universities throughout the United States. The data also show that non-tenure-track faculty, particularly the growing number of part-time adjunct faculty, constitute a population of marginalized, often poor,employees working alongside more privileged …

It Takes A Village-Schooling Out Of Place: School Experiences Of Black African Youth In Waterloo Region, Olufunke Oba 5726040

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examined experiences of alienation among Black African youth in Waterloo region schools. This study is timely and relevant considering the rapid influx of Black Africans into the region in response to government initiatives to redirect immigrants to smaller communities. The research addressed the dearth of scholarship on experiences of Black Africans outside the major metropolitan areas by employing Afrocentric and critical race theories to explore relationships between race and youth experiences of alienation. The dissertation study utilized elder facilitated youth dialogue forum (adaptation of focus group) and in-depth storytelling (which honours African orality) to access the meanings seventeen …

Professional Relationships: Bifurcations, Threshold Concepts, And Msw Student Voices., Todd Adamowich

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study explored MSW student perceptions of the concept of professional relationships. The research question was: “What does the concept of professional relationships mean to MSW students?” The study was epistemologically rooted in social constructionism and Foucauldian theories, which inform how meaning is created and the notion of “professionalism” is deconstructed, while two-person psychologies were utilized to conceptualize the worker/client relationship to which I refer. Utilizing a constructivist grounded theory modality, 15 participants were recruited from the student body at Wilfrid Laurier University in Kitchener, ON. Through the analysis of individual interview data, two overarching categories emerged: (a) the …

Three Essays On Contagion Risk In Supply Chain, Alireza Azimian

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Firms often benefit when an unfavourable event befalls a rival, usually through a shift in demand. But sometimes negative events can adversely affect other firms in the industry, a phenomena referred to as contagion. While contagion can harm the supply chain by disrupting supply or demand, or increasing operating costs, it has not yet been studied in the area of supply chain risk management. Aiming to fill this gap, in the first essay I use real cases to conceptualize the process of contagion and apply related theories and literature to theorize the key factors contributing to contagion risk. The …

Beyond Muslim Xenophobia And Contemporary Parochialism: Aga Khan Iv, The Ismā‘Īlīs, And The Making Of A Cosmopolitan Ethic, Sahir Dewji

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Aga Khan IV is the forty-ninth hereditary Imām of the Shī‘a Nizārī Ismā‘īlī Muslims (or ‘Ismā‘īlīs’ for short). As a Muslim leader, Aga Khan IV addresses salient issues concerning humankind in the contemporary world and expresses the challenges of living under such conditions through his public speeches and the institutions of the Ismā‘īlī Imāmate. His discourse is informed by the inseparability of dīn (faith) and dunyā(world), which is viewed as being a central function to the office of Imāmate. Aga Khan IV adopts a context-rich approach that addresses modernity by integrating commitments to theology with religio-cultural ethics, a formulation …

Social Positioning In Social Work Practice: Stories Of Hopes And Struggles Among Racialized Minority Workers, Utamika Cummings

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The primary purpose of this qualitative research is to understand the experiences of racialized social workers and social services workers and how social positioning plays out in their practice. What are the experiences of racialized workers in their work places? How do they position themselves in terms of their age, gender, race and professional identity in the various contexts of their practice? Do they experience self-doubt? How are they recognized or misrecognized for how they position themselves? How do they deal with these experiences? What are their stories? These were the main questions that this narrative research sought to capture …

Narratives Of Baby Boomers: Envisioning Late Life Spiritual Resources, Jane A. Kuepfer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT:

In this narrative inquiry, first-wave baby boomers (six males and six females born between 1946 and 1955) reflected on their lives and envisioned living into old age. While literature has focused on trends in baby boomer spirituality, issues of aging, and spiritual needs and tasks among elders, this study listened for “spiritual resources.” Initially defined broadly as that which has sustained a person throughout their life and will sustain them in the future, spiritual resources came to be understood as those things, both internal and external, that address deep human need for such spiritual values as love, hope, peace, …

The Role Of Indicators In Promoting Gender Equality Through The Millennium And Sustainable Development Goals, Sara Rose Taylor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

With the global rise of evidence-based policy, indicators have become an increasingly important part of governance. Indicators are statistics that represent social experiences, turning complex norms into simplified representations. Although seemingly objective, indicators reflect the values and beliefs of the actors who create them. An indicator’s normative underpinnings have significant consequences for social governance and policy because of an indicator’s power to shape understanding. This multi-manuscript dissertation analyzes the impact of governance by indicators as seen in the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs and SDGs), two major United Nations initiatives in the field of global social governance. The focus …

Exploring The Discourses Of Compulsive Hair-Pulling: A Body-Mapping Study, Julia Mason

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Compulsive hair-pulling (which is sometimes diagnosed as the OCD-Related Disorder, Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviour, "Trichotillomania)" is an understudied experience that has significant social and emotional impacts on the women that it affects. This study focused on the meanings that are derived from the interactions that women with compulsive hair-pulling experience with social discourses surrounding mental illness, physical appearance, and behaviour. Guided by relativist ontology and the co-creation of understanding between researcher and participants, this qualitative exploration was guided by anti-oppressive practice and used an arts-based research method called Body-Map Storytelling. In group format, four women were invited to describe their knowledge, …

Good Works And The Great Commission: An Exploration Of Religious Influence In Evangelical Faith-Based Organisations In Canada And India, Ravi Gokani

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

By the mid-1990s, the post-war, Keynesian welfare state that had typified much the landscape of service provision in North America had already begun seriously to corrode in the presence of a resurgent classical liberalism. This meant, among other things, an increased role for civil society organisations in the provision of social welfare to citizens in need. As part of this restructuring of the welfare state, faith-based organisations found a renewed place, bolstered in part by favourable legislation, political support, and the revival of a once-recluse evangelicalism. Today, with decades of maturity and the aide of technology, evangelical faith-based organisations are …

The Complexity Of Canadian Anti-Communism, 1945-1967, Ian Muller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation argues that the history of anti-communism in English Canada between 1945 and 1967 is more diverse and complicated than traditionally acknowledged. Often dispersed throughout the scholarship as elements of other Cold War topics, including espionage, state surveillance, and policing, anti-communism is the central subject of this investigation. A series of case studies are used to analyze individual encounters with the state and civic engagement with the domestic threat of communism. The unique politico-cultural approach of this dissertation will bolster Canada’s Cold War historiography by investigating both public and private manifestations of anti-communism.

The intersections of public safety, the …