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University of Central Florida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

2011

Articles 1 - 30 of 107

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Root Cause Analysis Of The Barriers To Transparency Among Physicians A Systemic Perspective, Bianca Perez Jan 2011

A Root Cause Analysis Of The Barriers To Transparency Among Physicians A Systemic Perspective, Bianca Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transparency in healthcare relates to formally reporting medical errors and disclosing bad outcomes to patients and families. Unfortunately, most physicians are not in the habit of communicating transparently, as many studies have shown the existence of a large medical error information gap. Research also shows that creating a culture of transparency would mutually support patient safety and risk management goals by concomitantly reducing medical errors and alleviating the malpractice crisis. Three predictor variables are used to represent the various dimensions of the context just described. Perfectionism represents the intrapersonal domain, socio-organizational climate represents the interpersonal and institutional domains, and medico-legal …

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Impulsivity And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Testing Competing Predictions From The Working Memory And Behavioral Inhibition Models Of Adhd, Joseph S. Raiker Jan 2011

Impulsivity And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Testing Competing Predictions From The Working Memory And Behavioral Inhibition Models Of Adhd, Joseph S. Raiker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Impulsivity is a hallmark of two of the three DSM-IV ADHD subtypes and is associated with myriad adverse outcomes. Limited research, however, is available concerning the mechanisms and processes that contribute to impulsive responding by children with ADHD. The current study tested predictions from two competing models of ADHD – working memory (WM) and behavioral inhibition (BI) – to examine the extent to which ADHD-related impulsive responding was attributable to model-specific mechanisms and processes. Children with ADHD (n = 21) and typically developing children (n = 20) completed laboratory tasks that provided WM (domaingeneral central executive [CE], phonological/visuospatial storage/rehearsal) and …

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Age-Typing Across Occupations When, Where, And Why Age-Typing Exists, Michael Dennis Reeves Jan 2011

Age-Typing Across Occupations When, Where, And Why Age-Typing Exists, Michael Dennis Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study sought to determine the direction and degree to which occupations representative of all major occupational categories are viewed as age-typed (i.e., more appropriate for older or younger workers). The 60 occupations examined were the 12 most common and familiar occupations in each of five occupational categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau. I randomly assigned 365 participants to one of three survey conditions. Participants rated the feature centrality, proportional representation, normative age, and optimal performance age of 20 of the 60 occupations and the age-type of 20 different occupations. Results showed that participants reliably rated the occupations …

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A Paleopathological Assessment Of Osteoarthritis In The Lower Appendicular Joints Of Individuals From The Kellis 2 Cemetery In The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Joshua B. Robin Jan 2011

A Paleopathological Assessment Of Osteoarthritis In The Lower Appendicular Joints Of Individuals From The Kellis 2 Cemetery In The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Joshua B. Robin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative pathological condition of the appendicular joints which affects the cartilage and underlying bone. OA is relatively common in both the archaeological and clinical context, and a significant amount of research has been conducted on this osteological condition. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the incidence, demographic prevalence, and general severity of hip and knee OA in a Roman-Christian period (50 A.D – 450 A.D) population sample from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. The bioarchaeological sample originates from the Kellis 2 cemetery which is associated with the ancient town of Kellis. The town of Kellis …

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Searching For Meaningful Use Of Health Information Technology A Study Of Cardiovascular Disease Care In Veterans General Hospitals, Carey L. Thaldorf Jan 2011

Searching For Meaningful Use Of Health Information Technology A Study Of Cardiovascular Disease Care In Veterans General Hospitals, Carey L. Thaldorf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The cost of healthcare in the United States is on an upward trajectory towards an unsustainable level. In order to address this, Congress and the Obama Administration passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to begin the process of controlling these costs. Within the ARRA is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) section which creates financial incentives to invest in Health Information Technology (HIT) and to develop a means to measure the Meaningful Use of specific functions of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This research examines the widely used Joint Commission datasets to determine …

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Explaining The Support Of The British National Party (Bnp) In The 1999, 2004, And 2009 European Parliament Elections, Jonathan Richard Willis Jan 2011

Explaining The Support Of The British National Party (Bnp) In The 1999, 2004, And 2009 European Parliament Elections, Jonathan Richard Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, there has been a surge of interest in extreme right Western European parties. Well-established parties such as the National Front (FN) in France, Vlaams Belang (formerly Vlaams Blok) in Belgium, and Lega Nord in Italy have been scrutinized. However, extreme right parties that have just recently begun to experience electoral successes such as the British National Party (BNP) have received less evaluation and discussion in the literature. Therefore, this study examines the BNP‟s electoral fortunes in the European elections of 1999, 2004, and 2009. I explore the support for the BNP using the traditional variables of …

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The Response Of American Police Agencies To Digital Evidence, Hamdi Yesilyurt Jan 2011

The Response Of American Police Agencies To Digital Evidence, Hamdi Yesilyurt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the variation in digital forensics practice in the United States as adopted by large local police agencies. This study investigated how environmental constraints, contextual factors, organizational complexity, and organizational control relate to the adoption of digital forensics practice. This study integrated 3 theoretical perspectives in organizational studies to guide the analysis of the relations: institutional theory, contingency theory, and adoption-of-innovation theory. Institutional theory was used to analyze the impact of environmental constraints on the adoption of innovation, and contingency theory was used to examine the impacts of organizational control on the adoption of innovation. Adoption of …

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Cultural Differences In Forgiveness Fatalism, Trust Violations, And Trust Repair Efforts In Interpersonal Collaboration, Jessica L. Wildman Jan 2011

Cultural Differences In Forgiveness Fatalism, Trust Violations, And Trust Repair Efforts In Interpersonal Collaboration, Jessica L. Wildman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mistakes and betrayals can cause developing interpersonal trust between parties to be broken, and damaged trust can have serious negative impacts on relationships, such as withdrawal from group interaction or the enactment of revenge. Research has suggested that the use of apologies helps to repair damaged trust. However, this research is almost exclusively based in westernized populations and has not begun to explore any cross-cultural differences. Therefore, the primary goal of this comparative cross-national laboratory study was to examine if, and how, the effectiveness of trust repair efforts differs across cultures. The effectiveness of three manipulated trust repair strategies (no …

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Differential Diagnoses Of Temporal Bone Defects And Zygomatic Bone Lesions Found In Fetal And Infant Individuals From The Kellis 2 Cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Brittany A. Jardine Jan 2011

Differential Diagnoses Of Temporal Bone Defects And Zygomatic Bone Lesions Found In Fetal And Infant Individuals From The Kellis 2 Cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Brittany A. Jardine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Kellis 2 cemetery site within the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt provides a unique study opportunity due to the large number of infant, perinatal, and fetal individuals that have been recovered. Several of the infant and fetal remains have undiagnosed circular defects on the temporal bone, and others have undiagnosed lesions on the zygomatic bone. Of the 268 individuals under one year of age that have been analyzed from the Kellis 2 cemetery, twentysix individuals have the temporal bone defect and six have the zygomatic bone lesions. A survey of clinical and paleopathological research provided possible pathological conditions that could cause …

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An Ecological Analysis Of Social And Economic Influences On Black And White Infant Mortality Risk In Orange County, Fl, Littleton, Vanessa Lopez Jan 2011

An Ecological Analysis Of Social And Economic Influences On Black And White Infant Mortality Risk In Orange County, Fl, Littleton, Vanessa Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black health disparities are a salient public health issue with blacks in every socioeconomic level at a greater health disadvantage than their white counterparts. In particular, disparity in infant mortality rates between blacks and whites have widened in recent decades to differentials never before experienced in the United States. Social ecologists investigating the myriad of individual and environmental risk factors have failed to fully account for the persistent differential. This study examines the relationships between individual and environmental influences on the health risk experienced by blacks, whites, as well as the differential between the two populations. This multi-level analysis was …

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Three Essays On Applications Of Intrahousehold Resource Allocation Models, Santikorn Pamornpathomkul Jan 2011

Three Essays On Applications Of Intrahousehold Resource Allocation Models, Santikorn Pamornpathomkul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters on the topic of intrahousehold resource allocation models. The first chapter tests the unitary and general collective models of intrahousehold resource allocation for various household compositions. I find that, for the quasiquadratic Engel curve specification, the overall results support the previous findings in the literature that the unitary model fails to explain how resources are allocated for all household types. However, when using the QUAIDS specification, the results can reject the unitary model only for smaller-sized households. The general collective model, on the other hand, cannot be rejected in either quasi-quadratic or QUAIDS and …

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The Implications Of Virtual Environments In Digital Forensic Investigations, Farrah M. Patterson Jan 2011

The Implications Of Virtual Environments In Digital Forensic Investigations, Farrah M. Patterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research paper discusses the role of virtual environments in digital forensic investigations. With virtual environments becoming more prevalent as an analysis tool in digital forensic investigations, it’s becoming more important for digital forensic investigators to understand the limitation and strengths of virtual machines. The study aims to expose limitations within commercial closed source virtual machines and open source virtual machines. The study provides a brief overview of history digital forensic investigations and virtual environments, and concludes with an experiment with four common open and closed source virtual machines; the effects of the virtual machines on the host machine as …

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Factors Influencing The Variability In Social Capital, James R. Downing Jan 2011

Factors Influencing The Variability In Social Capital, James R. Downing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research provides insights into three aspects of social capital: the factors that influence its variability; its two-dimensional nature; and the relationship between social capital and membership in a YMCA. These insights have implications for social capital theory, for public policy, for organizational management and for individual well-being. Most social capital research treats the construct as a causal variable and analyzes the implications of different levels of social capital for certain aspects of individual and community well-being. This treatment implies that levels of social capital vary. Little research has been done to analyze the factors that cause social capital variability …

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New Perspectives On The Quatrefoil In Classic Maya Iconography The Center And The Portal, Rachel K. Egan Jan 2011

New Perspectives On The Quatrefoil In Classic Maya Iconography The Center And The Portal, Rachel K. Egan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The quatrefoil is a pan-Mesoamerican symbol with considerable time-depth. For the Maya, use of the symbol peaked during the Classic Period, reaching its highest frequency and largest geographical spread. Consequently, understanding its meaning has the potential to illuminate information about Precolumbian Maya worldview. While there have been several studies that focus on Preclassic Period quatrefoils, a similar study is lacking for Classic Period. Furthermore, the evaluations of the quatrefoil that do exist for the Classic Period are limited, often focusing on a select few examples. This thesis attempts to rectify the gap in extant research through an examination of the …

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The Tyler Perry Effect Examining The Influence Of Black Media Images On The Black Identity, Nicole E. Jackson Jan 2011

The Tyler Perry Effect Examining The Influence Of Black Media Images On The Black Identity, Nicole E. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the influence of Tyler Perry‟s House of Payne and Meet the Browns on black viewers‟ racial identity, based on a survey of 145 members of four predominantly African American churches in the Central Florida area. Mirroring Allen, Dawson, and Brown‟s (1989) model of an African American racial belief system, this study proposed that both shows would positively influence three dimensions of the black identity including closeness to blacks, black separatism, and the belief in positive stereotypes about blacks, while negatively influencing the dimension that emphasizes negative stereotypes about blacks. Socioeconomic status and religiosity were also hypothesized to …

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Mixed Signals At The Intersection The Effect Of Organizational Composition On Ratings Of Black Women's Management Suitability, Laticia D. Bowens Jan 2011

Mixed Signals At The Intersection The Effect Of Organizational Composition On Ratings Of Black Women's Management Suitability, Laticia D. Bowens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, Black women‘s workplace experiences have been understudied, partially due to an implicit assumption that their experiences are subsumed by research on Black men and/or White women. This oversight is even more evident in the field of management. However, considerable attention has been given to the debate about whether Black women are at a double advantage (i.e., as supposed affirmative action ―two-for-one bargains‖) or at a double disadvantage due to their double marginalizing characteristics. Empirical research in the area has found support for each side, furthering the debate, but also advancing an overly simplistic explanation for a set of experiences …

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Does Foreign Aid Promote Development? A Study Of The Effects Of Foreign Aid On Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Rachael J. Gray Jan 2011

Does Foreign Aid Promote Development? A Study Of The Effects Of Foreign Aid On Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Rachael J. Gray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Foreign aid aims to improve economic conditions and quality of life in developing countries. The literature on the efficacy of foreign aid to date has been inconclusive; yet there is some evidence that institutional factors may condition the relationship between aid and development. This research focuses on the effects of foreign aid on development, taking into consideration the effects of political institutional factors as intervening in the connection between aid and development. Specifically, this study considers the effects of democracy (political rights and civil liberties) and level of corruption on the relationship between aid and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Development …

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Quantifying The Impacts Of The 2007 Economic Crisis On A Local Tourism Industry And Regional Economy, Yun Ying Zhong Jan 2011

Quantifying The Impacts Of The 2007 Economic Crisis On A Local Tourism Industry And Regional Economy, Yun Ying Zhong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to explore the accuracy of the Input-Output model and its derivative, the Occupation-Based model in investigating the impacts of the 2007 economic crisis on the tourism-related industries and the local economy in the Metro Orlando Area, Florida. The 2007-2008 total visitor expenditure change is taken as an initial shock from the economic crisis on the region's tourism-related industries, and the total impacts are measured in terms of industry output (sales), employment and annual occupational wage. The estimation results are compared with the actual data to verify the accuracy of the modeling results. Paired-sample T …

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Organizational Support, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, And Perceived Performance Analysis Of Crime Scene Investigation Units Of Turkish National Police, Aykut Tongur Jan 2011

Organizational Support, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, And Perceived Performance Analysis Of Crime Scene Investigation Units Of Turkish National Police, Aykut Tongur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Policing is more difficult than ever before in today’s world since types of crime and criminal profiles change as a result of technological development and globalization. Police organizations should review their organizational and operational strategies to improve the fight against contemporary crimes and criminals. Behaviors and performance of police officers are very important in fighting crime. In this struggle, especially today, officers should exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors and perform better. One of the most important factors affecting these two concepts in organizations is organizational support. The literature stresses the social exchange cycle and reciprocity rules in the relationships of organizations …

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Street Team Member Socialization, Anna Colleen Turner Jan 2011

Street Team Member Socialization, Anna Colleen Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Street teams are grassroots efforts built from the ground up by people who have a vested interest in promoting a band or event. They are also made up of people who are passionate about what they do. This study investigated the socialization process of street team members from the investigation stage to obtaining full membership. It also identified the outcomes of socialization. In this study, 15 street team members were interviewed and observations were made at concerts and street team events over an 11-month period. Results indicated that although there are similarities in the socialization process among street team members, …

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Personal Perceptions And Organizational Factors Influencing Police Discretion The Case Of Turkish Patrol Officers' Responsiveness, Hidayet Tasdoven Jan 2011

Personal Perceptions And Organizational Factors Influencing Police Discretion The Case Of Turkish Patrol Officers' Responsiveness, Hidayet Tasdoven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Police officers make decisions at the street level in a variety of situations that have direct impact on quality of life, justice in society, and individual freedom. These decisions inherently involve the exercise of discretion, since successfully performed police tasks are linked to the officer‘s choosing among alternative courses of action. Appropriateness of unsupervised decisions taken under street contingencies remains questionable in terms of police-behavior legitimacy. Law enforcement agencies seek ways to control excessive discretion to avoid undesired consequences of police discretion and maintain organizational legitimacy. Traditionally, organizations developed reward and sanction structures that aimed to shape officer behavior on …

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Media Effects On Body Image In The Context Of Environmental And Internal Influences What Matters Most?, Kristen E. Vanvonderen Jan 2011

Media Effects On Body Image In The Context Of Environmental And Internal Influences What Matters Most?, Kristen E. Vanvonderen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Media effects on body dissatisfaction is a long-studied issue; however, aspects of the research – such as those regarding cultivation theory and its effects on body image – are unclear or incomplete. This study attempts to clarify the relationship between cultivation and body dissatisfaction. Besides cultivation, social comparison theory is also examined because upward comparisons with media images and peers can shape and reinforce body image attitudes as well. Additionally, the study examines the connection between media and body dissatisfaction by looking at a broader social context – one that includes other social/environmental influences, such as peer and parental attitudes, …

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Comprehending Synthetic Speech Personal And Production Influences, Jingjing Wang-Costello Jan 2011

Comprehending Synthetic Speech Personal And Production Influences, Jingjing Wang-Costello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing prevalence of voice-production technology across societies, clear comprehension while listening to synthetic speech is an obvious goal. Common human factors influences include the listener‟s language familiarity and age. Production factors include the speaking rate and clarity. This study investigated the speaking comprehension performance of younger and older adults who learned English as their first or second language. Presentations varied by the rate of delivery in words per minute (wpm) and in two forms, synthetic or natural speech. The results showed that younger adults had significantly higher comprehension performance than older adults. English as First Language (EFL) participants …

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Occupational Stress And Work-Related Wellbeing Of Turkish National Police (Tnp) Members, Sedat Kula Jan 2011

Occupational Stress And Work-Related Wellbeing Of Turkish National Police (Tnp) Members, Sedat Kula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies suggest that the organizational dynamics of police organizations and the nature of police work contribute to law enforcement stress, which in turn reduces job satisfaction and increases burnout. It is also well documented that undesirable organizational factors are more hazardous to the well-being of employees than are the stressors due to nature of police work. The present study examines whether, and to what degree, organizational and operational stresses in law enforcement are associated with job satisfaction, work-related burnout, and supervisor support, holding the effects of age, rank, education, gender, tenure, and shift type constant in the analysis. A …

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Are We Becoming Superhuman Cyborgs? How Technomorphism Influences Our Perceptions Of The World Around Us, Heather Christina Lum Jan 2011

Are We Becoming Superhuman Cyborgs? How Technomorphism Influences Our Perceptions Of The World Around Us, Heather Christina Lum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although traditionally researchers have focused on making robotics more user-friendly from a human perspective, a new theory has begun to take shape in which humans take on the perspective of a robotic entity. The following set of studies examined the concept of technomorphism defined as the attribution of technological characteristics to humans. This concept has been mentioned anecdotally and studied indirectly, but there is nothing currently available to tap in to the various forms that technomorphism may take. Therefore, one goal of this dissertation was to develop a scale to fill that purpose. The results of the Technomorphic Tendencies Scale …

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The Relationship Between Counselor Hope And Optimism On Client Outcome, Michelle M. Muenzenmeyer Jan 2011

The Relationship Between Counselor Hope And Optimism On Client Outcome, Michelle M. Muenzenmeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The counselor is an important contributor to client outcome. Research findings about therapist effects are mixed. In this study positive psychology variables, hope and optimism, were evaluated with client outcome. The sample for this study consisted of 43 graduate-level counselor trainees in the first or second practicum semester and their adult clients in a university’s community counseling clinic. Results revealed no statistically significant relationships between student counselors’ hope and optimism and client outcomes. Post hoc analysis of student hope and their post-graduation expectations, revealed statistically significant relationships. Implications for counselor educators are presented along with areas for future research.

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Dead, Imprisoned, Relapsed The Fate Of Homeless Substance Abusers Two Decades Later, Rachel L. Rayburn Jan 2011

Dead, Imprisoned, Relapsed The Fate Of Homeless Substance Abusers Two Decades Later, Rachel L. Rayburn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Guided and influenced by a famous follow-up study in criminology focused on desistance from crime, this dissertation studies desistance from crime, homelessness, and substance abuse. In the early 1990s, The New Orleans Homeless Substance Abusers Project (NOHSAP) was founded as an experiment funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to uncover optimal treatment strategies for homeless alcoholics and drug addicts. The program ran for three years (1991-1993) and in those years, 670 homeless New Orleans men and women were admitted into treatment. Some of the original clients were followed for as long as 18 months, but …

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Determinants Of Productivity In Hospital-Based Rural Health Clinics A Growth Curve Modeling Approach, Abiy T. Agiro Jan 2011

Determinants Of Productivity In Hospital-Based Rural Health Clinics A Growth Curve Modeling Approach, Abiy T. Agiro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 expanded rural Medicaid and Medicare coverage. However, different vehicles of delivering care (e.g., hospitals, health clinics, etc.) have differing organizational capacity that may or may not enable them to overcome the challenges of expanded provision. Consequently, this research employed structural contingency and organizational performance models to investigate the impact of organizational factors on productivity growth, while recognizing that contextual factors also affect the delivery of care. Latent growth curve modeling was used to study a national panel of 708 U.S. hospitalbased Rural Health Clinics for the years 2005 to 2008. Productivity …

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Transitions How Individuals In The Transgender Community Use Impression Management, Candice S. Campanaro Jan 2011

Transitions How Individuals In The Transgender Community Use Impression Management, Candice S. Campanaro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There exists an extensive body of literature focusing on impression management, with numerous studies addressing the effects of gender performance on members of the GLBT community. Despite a growing body of literature that centers on the differences between the genders, there exists a lack of research regarding the transgender community‟s ability to use impression management. This exploratory study addresses subjective experiences regarding transgender identity, and concentrates on self-definition and impression management in everyday life. It was found through interviews that “transition” is a temporary state that relies heavily on “passing” through impression management to create a new gender status. Once …

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Determinants Of Interpersonal Trust, Organizational Commitment For Performance Within Kyrgyz National Police, Erlan Bakiev Jan 2011

Determinants Of Interpersonal Trust, Organizational Commitment For Performance Within Kyrgyz National Police, Erlan Bakiev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Improving organizational performance is an essential goal for any type of organization. This process involves varieties of methods, polices and strategies. One of the important elements of organizational performance is trust-building process which deeply depends on leadership efforts of ranked employees and managers. Literature has enough empirical evidence on influence of trust and trusted work environment on organizational performance. Aftermath of recent riots and clashes in Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz National Police (KNP) officers are demoralized by the actions of both previous and current governments which bear corruption, bribery and clan type of ruling. These facts led to untrustworthy environments and relationships …

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