Digital Commons Network^™

A Phenomenological Study Of The Faith-Based Advocacy Experiences Of Leaders Of Christian Academic Libraries, Melanie Lewis Croft

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the faith-based advocacy experiences for library leaders at Christian institutions of higher education. The theory guiding this study is spiritual leadership theory, which demonstrates how library leaders connect library resources and services to the advancement of the mission and goals of a Christian institution of higher education. The central research question asked, What are the lived experiences of library leaders in Christian institutions of higher education who have engaged in faith-based advocacy? Participants in this study were those who served as the primary administrator of an academic library within a …

Recently Graduated Students From The Freely Associated States And Their Underrepresentation In Advanced Courses In Guam's High Schools: A Case Study, Tricia Mae C Togawa

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study was to understand the cultural, psychological, and institutional factors that influenced recent graduates from the Freely Associated States (FAS) in their access and participation in advanced courses located in Guam’s high schools. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory because it explained how learning and cognitive development happen by social interactions and cultural mediation. The framework provides a lens to examine how cultural practices, values, and social context influence students’ academic experience. The Central Research Question was: How do the cultural, psychological, and institutional factors contribute to the underrepresentation of …

Stuck In A Paradox: Loving An Unseen God While Hating The Neighbor That Is Visible: A Quantitative Correlational Study, Felisha A. Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Racism within the Christian church is a persistent concern that may influence interpersonal relationships and spiritual development. Although research has examined this broadly, there has been limited research on the relationship between perceived racism and spiritual maturity in a Christian church setting. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between racism and spiritual growth amongst Christians, assess the perceived prevalence of racism in the church, and explore perceptions of responsibility for addressing racism in the church. It was hypothesized that a negative relationship would be found between racism and spiritual maturity. Data was collected from …

Exploring The Relationship Between Divine Grace And Guilt/Shame Among Christians With Same-Sex Attraction, Christopher Tyler Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the experiences of guilt, shame, and divine grace as they relate to Christians with same-sex attraction (SSA). Although divine grace, defined as unmerited favor and love given by God, has been linked to favorable psychological outcomes in general samples, it is unclear whether experiencing divine grace protects Christians with same-sex attraction from guilt and shame. The Perceptions and Experiences of Grace Scale (PEGS), Factor 1 and The Guilt and Shame Experience Scale (GSES) were used to assess whether an association exists between these variables. Findings from multiple regression models indicated that experiencing divine grace does not significantly …

A Strategic Guide To Understanding How Leadership Motivation Creates A Productive Work Environment In The Service Sector, Sakina Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study explored the challenges leaders face in motivating employees in the service sector that threaten a productive work environment in the educational sector. The problem to be addressed is the challenges leaders face in motivating employees within the service sector that threaten a productive work environment. The purpose of this study is to explore how leadership strategies influence employee motivation and productivity, particularly within the education industry, where leaders often contend with stressors such as workplace change, low morale, and burnout. Guided by a constructive constructivist paradigm, the research employed a qualitative multiple-case study design, using semi-structured …

The Phenomenology Of Residential Youth In Child Welfare Settings And The Social Workers Who Work With Them., April Leigh Rorabaugh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study examines the experiences and challenges faced by social workers in child placement for adolescents aged 12-18 within North Carolina’s child welfare system, an issue that warrants immediate attention. Hardworking and determined social workers are on the ground fighting in an already overtaxed system that is resulting in options that are frighteningly few for the care our youth so desperately need. Many of the most vulnerable children in the welfare system are being placed in other states for residential treatment. This is not only traumatic but also robs youth of everything they are familiar with at such a …

Secondary Traumatic Stress: Lived Experiences Of Urban Educators, Stephanie R. Booker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and interpret the lived experiences of urban educators who experienced secondary traumatic stress resulting from exposure to the traumatic events of their students. Teachers in urban school settings serve students with high exposure to poverty, violence, and trauma, and these shared experiences often result in the urban educator experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS). The theory guiding this study was Hans Selye's Stress Theory. Data were collected through interviews with ten secondary urban educators from five states and eight cities with varying years of experience, grade levels, and racial and ethnic backgrounds. …

A Qualitative Case Study: Learning, Teaching, And Using Social-Emotional Skills In A Post-Covid Era, Camille Louise Andrews

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to discover the influence that COVID-19 has had on teaching and learning social-emotional skills in grades K through 2 in a local public school in a central metropolitan area in the northeastern United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools worldwide were forced to shut down, providing online instruction using tablets and other media devices. Students and teachers suddenly became limited in how they socialized with each other. COVID-19 changed how teachers use social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. The study included 10 participants. This study’s purpose was to answer the central research …

Well-Being And The New Economics Of Labor Migration Theory: A Study Of Elderly Left-Behind Parents In Guatemala, Dawn Marie Lawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study tested whether multidimensional self-assessed well-being constitutes a suitable dimension for extending the New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) framework. Specifically, the study examined the association between perceived migration-related material outcomes, namely consumption of market goods, savings, property holding, and business ownership or expansion, and self-assessed well-being among left-behind elderly parents in Guatemala. Well-being was operationalized using the Well-Being of Older People instrument (WOOP), a measure that the study established as culturally relevant to the sample. Given the ordinal levels of measurement used to capture the variables, the study used nonparametric statistical methods, viz., Kendall’s tau-b, Spearman’s rho, …

Switching Sides: A Grounded Theory Study Of Transition From Christian To Atheist, Joel C. Furches

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study developed a data driven, six stage model of deconversion, defined as the transition from publicly identifying as a Christian to publicly identifying as an atheist. Using a Grounded Theory approach for analysis, and an archival approach for data collection, the research analyzed 35 autobiographical accounts of deconversion to identify common psychological, social, and behavioral processes underlying religious-deidentification and atheist identification. The findings revealed six background features characteristic of religious environments with higher likelihood of producing deconverts, four categories of objections that precipitate dissonance, and six coping strategies individuals employ in response to that dissonance. Central to the model …

Empowering Elementary Music Students To Compose And Perform With Ipad, Matthew Martin Massengale

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

iPad is a popular device commonly used an educational tool, yet little information is available about how iPad can be used to supplement gaps in music education in elementary classes. It is widely accepted that music education increases student achievement across multiple curriculums: therefore, any techniques and tools available to deliver music lessons that may close gaps in access to quality music education are important to study and understand. Through qualitative research techniques, this study will examine and analyze the efficacy of using iPad in music lessons. Students will access music history and theory through apps installed on iPad. Students …

Lament Shift: Utilizing Biblical Lament As A Reframing Process To Help Church Members Of First Baptist Church Of Lumberton, Mississippi, Cope With Emotional Distress, Paul Wiseheart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this DMIN action research project was to address the problem that church members at First Baptist Church of Lumberton, Mississippi (FBCL) were unprepared to use biblical lament as a meaning-making coping practice to manage emotional distress. The thesis statement was that if FBCL church members participated in Lament Shift, they would report greater preparedness to manage emotional distress. Lament Shift is a curriculum-based program designed to equip FBCL church members to use biblical lament as a meaning-making coping practice in the context of a four-week peer support group. The study used a pre-experimental mixed methods design and …

Arete In Education: A Phenomenology On Virtue Cultivation In Classical Christian Schools, Jeffrey D. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of educational leaders in classical Christian schools with the cultivation of virtue as the primary purpose of education. The concept guiding this study is Aristotelian virtue ethics, from which spring virtue theory and positive organizational scholarship. The Aristotelian worldview drives the assertion among classical Christian educators that education is defined as the cultivation of virtue. The central research question for this study is “What are the lived experiences of classical Christian educational leaders in cultivating virtue in their students?” The study of classical Christian educational leaders’ views about …

Besieged Emotions: Female Writers, Vicksburg, And The Domestic Sphere During The Civil War, Theresa Schaecher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, is most often interpreted in terms of military strategy, leadership, and battlefield outcomes. While these perspectives provide important insights into the campaign, they have often placed less emphasis on the experiences of civilians who endured the forty-seven-day siege within the city. This dissertation examines the civilian experience through women's writings, arguing that their diaries and memoirs serve as analytical accounts of survival, emotional endurance, and social transformation under siege. Drawing on the writings of Mary Loughborough and other female civilians, this study employs content and narrative analyses to identify patterns of fear, grief, hope, and …

Faith-Informed Instruction In Secondary Mathematics: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Teachers, Jonathan Balsman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the phenomenon of faith-informed instruction as experienced by secondary mathematics teachers in Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) schools in the United States. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism, which frames educators’ instructional and theological meaning-making as socially and contextually developed through collaborative, relational learning environments. The central research question guiding this study was: What are the lived experiences of LCMS secondary mathematics teachers as they practice faith-informed instruction? This study used a hermeneutic phenomenological design to interpret teacher meaning-making and reflective practice. Participants were selected using …

Caring For ‘Lewy’: The Lived Experiences Of Adult Children Caregivers Of A Parent With Lewy Body Dementia, Tina Ellis Long

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of adult children caregivers of a parent with Lewy body dementia (LBD). The study was guided by Pearlin’s stress process model (SPM) and Thibault and Kelley’s social exchange theory (SET), as these theories informed aspects of caregiver burden and stress, as well as caregiver motivation. The study implemented a qualitative design with a transcendental phenomenological approach, exploring caregivers’ subjective individual experiences, while also observing caregivers’ common objective experiences. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, journal prompts, and cognitive representations, and was analyzed using the Colaizzi open coding …

High School Teachers’ Experiences Fostering Empathy At A Florida Charter School: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Angela Lynn Green

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of high school teachers fostering empathy at a charter school in Florida. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s social constructivism as it provided the framework for exploring the phenomenon of fostering empathy in the classroom while considering the role of teacher and student interactions. The Central Research Question was as follows: What are the lived experiences of high school teachers with fostering empathy in their classrooms at a charter school in Florida? This study used a qualitative phenomenological approach with a purposeful sample of 10 high …

U.S. Navy Seal Operational Understanding From 1945 To 1989: A Case Study, Cade Morgan Kemp Pickford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation will examine the evolution of U.S. Navy SEAL doctrine, mission scope, and overall strategic role from their formal establishment in 1962 through the Cold War interventions in Grenada (1983) and Panama (1989). It will argue that the SEALs transformed from a more experimental counterinsurgency force into a much stronger and more strategically significant instrument of U.S. military policy, shaped by the combat experience, institutional challenges, and ever-evolving geopolitical demands. Drawing upon several primary sources, including archival records, official military histories, several oral interviews, and doctrinal publications, this study employs a qualitative, thematic methodology to analyze patterns in operational …

Using Polygenic Risk Scores To Evaluate Definitions Of Self-Reported Sleep Phenotypes Across Cohorts, Annah B Wyss, Michael Brown, Xiang Li, Brian W Spitzer, Zhijie Huang, Heming Wang, Richa Saxena, Linda Gallo, Qibin Qi, Wassim Tarraf, Robert Kaplan, Melissa Lamar, Hector M González, Charles Decarli, Myriam Fornage, Jerome I Rotter, Stephen S Rich, Kent D Taylor, Xiuqing Guo, Alexis C Wood, Peter Y Liu, Susan R Heckbert, Chloé Sarnowski, Jan Bressler, Alanna C Morrison, Bing Yu, Pamela L Lutsey, Carmen R Isasi, Susan Redline, Tamar Sofer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Study objectives: Since genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of sleep phenotypes have been conducted in differing populations and definitions of sleep phenotypes vary across studies, we investigated associations between several polygenic risk scores (PRSs) and potential sleep definitions among multiethnic cohorts.

Methods: Using data from four cohorts (HCHS/SOL, ARIC, MESA, BHS, N = 16 895), we considered multiple definitions of short and long sleep, insomnia, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). PRSs were developed based on summary statistics from GWAS in European ancestry individuals from the UK Biobank (UKB) and from GWAS conducted in a multiethnic population from the Million Veteran Program …

The Impact Of Student Behavioral Demands On Teacher Burnout In Secondary Education, Adrienne J. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Teacher burnout is a growing concern in secondary education because it affects teacher well-being, instructional effectiveness, and retention (Anton & Ryzin, 2024; Madigan & Kim, 2021). This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between behavioral demands and emotional exhaustion among 64 Texas secondary public-school teachers. Guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the study also examined whether teacher self-efficacy and school climate moderated this relationship. Behavioral demands were measured as a composite of student aggression, defiance, and inattentiveness. Pearson correlations and moderation analyses conducted in Jamovi indicated that behavioral demands were positively associated …

"Distributed Voice" During Deliberations: What Real Juries Tell Us, Mary R. Rose, Shari S. Diamond

DePaul Law Review

Juries are supposed to represent the views of their community,

but securing representative bodies will not meet fair cross-section

aims if deliberations fail to actually produce contributions from a

wide variety of voices. This Essay develops the concept of

“distributed voice,” or the ability of a jury to spread out talk across

more jurors. Analyses examine what factors predict a jury’s

likelihood of producing more egalitarian distributions of speaking

turns and of words spoken. Data from actual deliberations of fifty

civil juries demonstrate that talk patterns on juries are more widely

distributed when there is a greater diversity of views …

Legal Analysis After The Behavioral Revolution, Russell Korobkin, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

DePaul Law Review

The incorporation of behavioral economics and cognitive

psychology has profoundly challenged traditional legal

scholarship’s understanding of human decision making. This Article

explores how insights from the behavioral sciences have

fundamentally recast the academy's approach to legal doctrine in

the private law subjects that have long been the foundation of legal

training. By demonstrating systematic cognitive biases and

heuristics that deviate from rational choice theory, behavioral

research has upended the rational choice assumption that anchored

consequentialist analysis of law and left in its wake a more

contingent and context-dependent, and thus a fragmented,

normative landscape.

Procedural Justice And Body Worn Cameras, Yael Granot

DePaul Law Review

The extensive and rapid roll out of body cameras across

American police forces in the past decades was intended to improve

issues of accountability and transparency in policing. Trust and

perceptions of fairness of police are shaped, in large part, by how

one is treated by officers and departments—the fundamental

interpersonal work of procedural justice. This Article reviews

findings on public and police support for body cameras, as well as

research connecting body cameras to perceptions of procedural

justice. It then elaborates on past research with a vignette

experiment, aimed at isolating the unique and interactive effects of

just policies, …

What We Should Know About The Reliability Of Empirical Legal Studies, Kathryn Zeiler

DePaul Law Review

The findings of replication studies conducted in the early 2010s

led many to declare that science was in the midst of a “replication

crisis.” Since then, a growing number of reforms have been

proposed and tested. The field of empirical legal studies seems

behind other fields such as psychology, economics, political science,

medicine, biology, and others that have taken significant steps

toward uncovering the general reliability of the field’s empirical

work, investigating the causes of observed unreliability, and

instituting and testing the effects of various reforms. The purpose of

this Article is to summarize what we know about the reliability …

Reconstructing Reasonableness With Social Science, Kevin Tobia

DePaul Law Review

The social science of legal decision making often emphasizes

judgment bias. That empirical project reflects the legacy of legal

realism and grows in the shadow of law and economics, both of

which embody skepticism about legal concepts. These theoretical

influences encourage empiricists to “deconstruct” legal concepts by

identifying illicit, improper, or pernicious influences on judgment.

For example, empiricists demonstrate hindsight bias in judgments

of reasonableness and recommend interventions to remove that

bias. Identifying legal biases, their sources and remedies are

critically important. But these are not the only social scientific

questions one could ask of legal concepts. This Essay poses …

Reflections On Danny Kahneman's Influence On Legal Scholarship, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Open Science Movement And Its Implications For Expert Testimony, Robert J. Maccoun

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

What The Law Can--And Cannot--Do About Bias In The Mind, Neil A. Lewis Jr.

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

Procedural Justice In Trump's America, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jury Consultants And Empirical Social Science: Framing A Modest Critique, Michael Heise, Nicole A. Heise

DePaul Law Review

Public and scholarly concerns about “integrity” issues relating

to empirical social science research, while already significant,

continue to grow. While problems with the status quo are relatively

obvious and easy to identify, less clear, however, is whether a fixed,

universal set of “norms” or “best practices” should be implemented

to address research integrity concerns or, in contrast, whether

important differences across empirical research genres, scholarly

fields, or research designs warrant different responses. Locating

jury consultants’ empirical work-product in the broader universe of

empirical social science genres provides necessary context, which

assists with the task of identifying which research integrity or …