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Executive Actions

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Do Family Firms Issue More Readable Annual Reports? Evidence From The United States, Qunfeng Liao, Bin Srinidhi, Ke Wang

SAGE Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

Using a sample of 22,442 firm-year observations for 3,721 U.S. listed firms, we show that family firms, on average, issue annual reports with higher readability than non-family firms. Higher readability could occur due to lower obfuscation or less information conveyance. By controlling complexity and choosing readability measures linked to obfuscation, we attribute the higher readability to lower obfuscation. Our investigation into the heterogeneity in family firms shows that the positive effect of family control on reporting readability exists for eponymous family firms but not for non-eponymous family firms. We also find that family firms managed by founders or heirs issue …

The "Police Personality": Is It Real?, Michael F. Teneyck

SAGE Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

Much research has discussed the "police personality." Yet, it is still unclear what particular traits make up the police personality—or whether it exists at all. This can be partially attributed to the limited availability of data collected within individual police departments. Using a nationally representative sample of adults (Add Health), the current study examines whether the Big Five personality traits, temperamental characteristics, and empirically informed covariates are related to being a police officer. Results indicate that, compared to the general population, individuals in law enforcement score significantly lower on openness to experience. Police officers are also more likely than non-officers …

Co-Design With Patients For Improving Patient Safety: Strategies, Barriers And Pitfalls, Yan Xiao, Kristen Miller, Nicole Werner, Kelly Smith, Noah Hendrix, Carole Hemmelgaru

SAGE Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

What happens when “frontline” workers are patients and family members performing health-related tasks? As more and more complex healthcare tasks are performed by patients and family members, and more emphasis is placed on patient- and family-centered care, strategies are needed to engage patients and family members in co-design "work systems" and patient-professional collaborative work. Human factors professionals are well-equipped to apply participatory ergonomics to patient and collaborative tasks. However, there are a number of barriers and pitfalls in engaging patients in design. Moving from tokenism to meaningful engagement in research requires patience, constant reflection, and a commitment to codesign. Our …

Getting To The Heart Of Leading As A Cognitive Coach, Kimberly Coupe Pavlock

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

While the expectations and challenges facing K–12 educational leaders are considerable and significantly increasing, the support they receive in training, leadership development, and ongoing support has been limited in range and relevance. Although Cognitive Coaching is not a leadership development program, per se, Cognitive Coaching is a model of coaching that has been highly regarded and frequently requested by administrators, teachers, consultants, and literacy coaches in K–12 education, and the components of this coaching model can serve as a basis for leadership development. Previous research about Cognitive Coaching has highlighted the benefits of Cognitive Coaching for students, teachers, administrators, and …

What Did Y’All Do?: Using Counter-Storytelling To Recall Student Affairs Professionals’ Response To Anti-Black Racist Incidents At One Predominantly White Institution In The Midwest, Darquillius J. Mayweather

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study paints a picture of student affairs professionals’ work after a string of anti-Black racist incidents at a predominantly White Midwestern university. In this study, student affairs professionals were asked to recount their responses to three anti-Black racist incidents at the university during the fall semester of 2016:
• September, 20, 2016, “KKK Leave N*****s” at Sing Hall;
• September 21, 2016, “Fuck U N*****s” at Mise Hall; and
• October 31, 2016, “leave n*****s” at Cord Hall.

This study used critical race theory (CRT) counter-storytelling methods to uncover frontline student affairs professionals’ responses to anti-Black racist incidents at …

Speech And Language Assessment Of Internationally Adopted Children, Lindsey Clifford

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This paper consists of three distinct articles, all related to the speech and language assessment of internationally adopted children. The first article, “Speech and Language Assessment of Internationally Adopted Children,” is a qualitative study that explored how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) would conduct a speech and language assessment of internationally adopted children. The assessment of this population of children can be challenging for many reasons, and there is limited knowledge of what methods SLPs are currently using. In-depth interviews were conducted with five SLPs who had at least two years of experience working in a public school setting to learn how …

Accent Services: Considering The Perspectives Of Non-Native Speakers Of English For A Culturally Affirming Practice, Kristopher Kilgallon

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Accent “modification” is a type of service offered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) that is intended to, among other things, help speakers improve their intelligibility in a target second language. This area of practice has been, and continues to be, a controversial topic amongst scholars and practitioners. To explore and understand the perspectives of non-native speakers of English regarding their participation in accent services, the present study employed a qualitative research design using individual, semi-structured interviews. Ten adult non-native speakers of English (female: n = 7; male: n = 3), with ages between 28 and 47 years old (M = …

Towards Sustainable E-Learning Platforms In The Context Of Cybersecurity: A Tam-Driven Approach, Hebah Alquran

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The rapid growth of electronic learning (e-learning) platforms has raised concerns about cybersecurity risks. The vulnerability of university students to cyberattacks and privacy concerns within e-learning platforms presents a pressing issue. Students’ frequent and intense internet presence, coupled with their extensive computer usage, puts them at higher risk of being a potential victim of cyberattacks. This problem necessitates a deeper understanding in order to enhance cybersecurity measures and safeguard students’ privacy and intellectual property in educational environments. This dissertation work addresses the following research questions: (a) To what extent do cybersecurity perspectives affect student’s intention to use e-learning platforms? (b) …

Dyadic Analysis Of Positive And Negative Social Support Behaviors And Psychological Outcomes In Romantic Couples, Lucas H. Parnell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examined the effect of social support behaviors on psychological adjustment in couples. Couples (N = 123) completed surveys assessing depressive and anxiety symptoms. Observational support interactions were conducted to measure partners’ positive and negative affective support behaviors. Structural equation modeling and actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) were used to estimate effects. Results highlight the unfavorable effects of negative social support behaviors on one’s own depression symptoms. Additionally, men’s, but not women’s, negative support behaviors were found to be associated with elevated partner depression symptoms. No significant predictors were found in models predicting anxiety. The combination of partners’ …

Technology And Its Impact On Parental Involvement In K-12 Education, Kenyuano Jones

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact technology, specifically the Student Information System’s (SIS) parent portal has on parent involvement in K-12 education. Parents who participated in the study were asked questions in the fields of special education; social economic status; parent workshops; use of technology, including the parent portal; parent beliefs; parent–teacher relationships; and their involvement in schools. The data were collected from parents of K-12 students through a survey and was analyzed to determine if there were relationships between variables as well as to show two-way relationships and path analysis. Based on the findings, it …

Social Media Use In Adolescence: Longitudinal Relationships With Social Functioning And Psychopathology, Aidan P. Schmitt

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Social media use and psychopathology are both prevalent during adolescence; however, the relationship between these two variables is not yet fully understood. Research on these topics is generally myopic in that it focuses on a brief window of time (e.g., cross-sectional studies), a small number of variables (e.g., hours spent per day; depressive symptoms), and uses single reporters and measures (e.g., adolescent report using a questionnaire). Extant literature shows moderate relationships between frequency of social media use and depressive symptoms; however, most studies do not use statistical methods that investigate bidirectionality or parse apart between-person and within-person effects, so effects …

Initial Evaluation Of The Reliability And Validity Of An Assessment-Based Approach To Identifying And Addressing Barriers To Caregiver Treatment Adherence, Eleah Sunde

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Caregiver-mediated behavioral interventions are a critical and evidence-based treatment of childhood behavioral concerns. However, caregivers face many barriers to adherence that can reduce the effectiveness of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training protocol delivered over telehealth within an integrated behavioral health setting, evaluate the reliability and validity of an assessment tool (i.e., the Performance Diagnostic Checklist - Parent), and examine patterns of engagement (e.g., missed sessions, dropout rates) that caregivers experienced. Eight caregivers enrolled in the study and received a child-directed interaction protocol, which included instruction, a video model and skill …

Soil And Compost Tea: A New Restoration Technique?, Carol E. Day

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, prairie restorations have lacked the plant diversity seen in remnant prairies. Most restoration practices focus on reestablishing the plant community but overlook the soil microbial community even though microbes are critical to habitat functioning. Developing techniques that increase soil microbes in prairie restorations is critical to ensuring diverse restored habitats. We compared how microbial communities differed between remnant and restored prairie sites. We also investigated if soil and compost teas could be used to reintroduce microbes to restored prairie soil and if the teas affected native plant establishment. We found significant differences in the levels of bacterial taxa between …

Investigating Sources Of Microplastics And Effects Of Plastic Pollution On Biofilm Function In The Huron River, Sadie Baker

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Plastics are a global environmental threat due to mass production and the many unknowns regarding the long-term effects of plastic pollution in the environment. Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, and they have become ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems. MPs enter aquatic ecosystems through non-point sources such as urbanization, runoff, or atmospheric fallout or through point-sources such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). To determine MP sources in the Huron River, we evaluated MP load (MPs/day) upstream and downstream from urban centers (Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti) and the Ann Arbor WWTP. The average MP load among sample …

Comparison Of Water Column Properties Derived From An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle And Satellite Based Sources In Lake Michigan, David Bennion

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are an emerging technology increasingly being employed in geoscience and ecosystem research in the Great Lakes, capitalizing on their ability to sample large areas fitted with a variety of sensors. Previous to AUV use, chlorophyll measurements were either collected at discrete locations accessed by boats or derived from satellite remote sensing data. An advantage of AUVs is the ability to detect the presence of subsurface formations such as a deep chlorophyll layer or directly measure features such as the extent of the photic zone, which provides the opportunity to compare these in situ measured features to …

A Critical Race Critique Of Campus Climate And Belonging For First-Generation Students Of Color At Historically Black Colleges & Predominately White Institutions, Samantha Gale Aaron

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to assess whether and how higher education campus climate, policy, and practice influence belonging for first-generation students of color. Through the lens of critical race theory, the study further juxtaposes those experiences through the testimony of students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Grounded theory informed my qualitative survey and interview tools through which I examined belonging through three standards: social, which explored belonging through peers, groups, and the environment; personal, which explored belonging through the respondent’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions; and institutional, which explored belonging through practice, …

Stepping In The Right Direction? Exploring Mental Health Providers’ Beliefs About, Training In, And Use Of Stepped-Care Practices, Caroline Lucy

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Interventions that can be efficiently and effectively delivered to a larger number of people are needed to address the large, unmet need for mental health services. Stepped-care models have the potential to address this need and provide benefit to a significant number of patients while managing provider burden. The present study sought to clarify providers’ current use of, beliefs about, and training in stepped care practices, as well as barriers to its use. Providers generally agreed with the model and believed in the effectiveness of lower intensity methods. While the majority endorsed engaging in multiple stepped practices, few reported explicitly …