Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Early Childhood Ability Measures Within A Model Of Personal Competence, Richard F. Ittenbach, Amy N. Spiegel, Kevin S. Mcgrew, Robert H. Bruininks

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study tested Greenspan’s model of personal competence with data obtained from the Early Screening Profiles, a nationally standardized preschool screening battery designed to measure the general functioning level of children 2–7 years of age. Of the five models tested (three a priori and two a posteriori), three models produced results indicative of a good fit. These findings support the use of Greenspan’s model of personal competence as a framework for understanding the nature of developing abilities in young children as well as for the improvement of classification and diag-nosis of children with special needs.

The Disaster Of Deforestation In The Brazilian Rainforest, Robert Stoddard

Geography Program: Faculty Publications

In 1987, a major disaster occurred when an estimated eight million hectares of tropical forests in Brazil were destroyed (World Resources Institute 1990, 102). This event is considered a disaster because it was only the annual portion of an on-going process having immense spatial and temporal effects. The temporal impact is expected to remain virtually forever. In contrast to many disasters having a limited temporal impact because restoration is possible, the extermination of several biotic species associated with rainforest destruction is permanent. Likewise, some of the spatial effects have reached their potential areal maximum because they have affected the entire …

Coprolite Analysis: A Biological Perspective On Archaeology, Karl J. Reinhard, Baughn M. Bryant Jr

Karl Reinhard Publications

The most remarkable dietary remains recoverable from archaeological contexts are coprolites. Coprolites are desiccated or mineralized feces that are preserved in sheltered and open sites in arid regions, primarily in the New World. These dietary remains are remarkable from several perspectives. They typically contain a variety of macroscopic and microscopic remains that form interrelated data sets for the reconstruction of diets. Because contexts containing coprolites are typified by excellent preservation, the remains coprolites contain tend to be in better states of preservation than dietary remains recovered from nonfecal deposits. Coprolites also contain the well-preserved remains of intestinal parasites and pathogens …

Vertebral Pathology In Prehistoric And Historic Skeletons From Northeastern Nebraska, Karin L. Sandness, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Vertebral pathology has long been a useful criterion for anthropologists in the assessment of activity patterns, stress, and general health of extinct peoples. This method of analysis, however, has never been applied to the peoples of the Nebraska Great Plains. This study is the first to concentrate on the indigenous Native Americans of this region, examining the spinal pathology present in the prehistoric and historic skeletal remains. Pathology present in the form of spondylolysis, Schmorl's nodes, osteophytosis (degenerative disc disease), and osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease), provides evidence to suggest differing activity patterns and levels of stress in Plains groups before …

Dan Canyon Burial: A Piii Burial In Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Steve Dominguez, Karl Reinhard, Kari L. Sandness, Cherie A. Edwards, Dennis Danielson, F. A. Calabrese, Chris Kincaid

Karl Reinhard Publications

The Dan Canyon burial was discovered at a time when the philosophy, ethics, and legislation concerning the study of human remains are in a state of flux. A number of important sensitive issues germane to managers, archeologists, and American Indians are discussed in the introduction. The subsequent analysis provides a detailed scientific account of these remains and a glimpse of a segment of a people's past lifeway while remaining sensitive to the wishes of the American Indians.

The burial and associated grave goods of site 42SA21339 were exposed by wave action in a location frequented by boaters at the Glen …

In Stories We Trust: Studies Of The Validity Of Autobiographies, George S. Howard, Arthur C. Maerlender, Paul R. Myers, Tom D. Curtin

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

There is a dearth of research addressing the validity of life stories, or autobiographies. In part, this is because it is unclear how such data sources might be validated. This article recommends two differ-ent perspectives for obtaining evidence relevant to the validity of autobiographical data. A study is conducted from each of these perspectives, and multiple validity estimates are obtained in each in-vestigation. The construct validity of standard psychological constructs (e.g., assertiveness, trustwor-thiness) obtained in Study 1 from autobiographies was equal to that of standard instruments designed to assess these constructs. Evidence for the validity of life themes, extracted from …

Assessment Of Anxiety In Social Interaction And Being Observed By Others: The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale And The Social Phobia Scale, Richard G. Heimberg, Gregory P. Mueller, Craig S. Holt, Debra A. Hope, Michael R. Liebowitz

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Social phobia has become a focus of increased research since its inclusion in DSM-III. However, assessment of social phobia has remained an underdeveloped area, especially self-report assessment. Clinical researchers have relied on measures that were developed on college populations, and these measures may not provide sufficient coverage of the range of situations feared by social phobic individuals. There is a need for additional instruments that consider differences in the types of situations (social interaction vs. situations involving observation by others) that may be feared by social phobics and between subgroups of social phobic patients. This study provides validational data on …

The Americanization Of Ritual Culture: The ‘Core Codes’ In American Culture And The Seductive Character Of American ‘Fun.’, Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Modern life in the USA is driven by four “core codes” of oppression and repression which structure a wide range of cultural patterns, from fleeting, face-to-face interactions to enduring, large scale social institutions. The four codes (sex, class, bureaucratization, and the commodification of time) also give recognizable contours to modern American cultural rituals (participatory as well as media-constructed) and contribute to the seductive character of “fun” which these rituals typically generate. American “fun” provides short-lived, incomplete escapes from mundane routine, and simultaneously strengthens and reproduces the core oppression and repressions of everyday life.

American “fun” provides its consumers with ritual …

The Gunman Downstairs, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

EXACTLY 24 HOURS ago, in this building, nearly two dozen of your fellow students fled from Room 112, downstairs, in mortal terror of being murdered by a classmate in a senior-level actuarial science class. Newspaper accounts of this event present a particularly vivid example of the frame concepts that Erving Goffman explicates in Frame Analysis. In particular, Arthur McElroy’s entrance into Room 112 was a “guided doing” by which he willfully intended to kill at least a few, if not all, of his classmates.

“For a second,” said a student in the class, “I just sat there in a daze.” …

Review Of Aspen, A Documentary Film By Frederick Wiseman, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Frederick Wiseman's most recent documentary was heralded in the New York Times (December 29, 1991, pp. 27,36) with considerable fanfare, but for this reviewer Aspen is a sociological disappointment. Wiseman's unusually keen documentary grip on the subtleties and institutional complexities of Western society has momentarily slipped in his presentation of the collage of institutionally disjointed images offered in Aspen. Visually excavating the social nexus of community life as a whole is a worthy objective for filmmakers of Wiseman's stature and experience, but sociology instructors who hope that Aspen might serve as an institutionally sophisticated community study will have to …

Protecting Defamatory Fiction And Reader-Response Theory With Emphasis On The German Experience, Henry Ordower

All Faculty Scholarship

Examines the litigation in Germany surrounding the publication of Klaus Mann's novel Mephisto. Analyzes the concepts of libel and defamation in fictional works and concludes that neither injunctive relief nor damages is appropriate because of the limited risk of injury and the potential for adverse impact on creative expression.

Someone's Daughter, Someone's Worker, Someone's Girlfriend, Someone's Wife: Young Women And Multiple Transitions, Jennie Buchanan

Theses : Honours

Although obviously involved in the life of their communities, young women have been largely overlooked in youth studies specifically and sociological research in general. Where young women are mentioned in the literature they are discussed using theories and frameworks designed to explain young men's position. It is assumed within these studies that somehow one's gender has little impact on their social situation. Clearly traditional theoretical approaches to the study of youth do not take into account the multiple transitions experienced by young women. This thesis sets out to question existing literature in youth studies. The notion that youth is a …

The Role Of The Media In The Introduction Of The Crime (Serious And Repeat Offenders) Sentencing Act 1992, Virginia M. Bristowe

Theses : Honours

During 1990 and 1991, community anxiety about juvenile crime increased. These concerns were mainly concentrated on the levels of car theft and the accidents, including several fatalities which had resulted from police high speed pursuits of stolen cars driven by juveniles. Certain sections of the community demanded longer and mandatory sentences to detention for young car thieves. In line with modern criminological research, the policies of the Western Australian government were directed towards seeking alternative strategies to strict detention as sanctions for young offenders. Therefore inspite of the populist community pressure throughout 1991, the government refused to accede to these …

Assessing Stress In Teachers: Depressive Symptoms Scales And Neutral Self-Reports Of The Work Environment, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The focal interest of this chapter on teacher stress is methodologic. The chapter enumerates a number of defects in existing measures of job stress in teachers and, concomitantly, other helping professionals. Alternative ways of measuring stress in teachers are suggested and evaluated. The use of depressive symptom scales in concert with more 'objective' measures of the work environment is discussed. An application of the proposed alternative measurement strategy is described. The wider utility of the measurement strategy is briefly described.

Positive Canons: The Role Of Legislative Bargains In Statutory Interpretation, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Roger G. Noll, Barry R. Weingast

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Free Speech: The Debate Over The Current Scope Of Protection Provided Under The First Amendment, Susan E. Hanna

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

The First Amendment guarantees that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech .... " The founding fathers clearly recognized the importance of freedom of speech to a democracy, and thus provided for its complete protection. A democracy, however, requires both liberty and order if it is to be effective. The problem, then, is balancing the needs of freedom and civil order in a manner that least restricts liberty, yet still maintains the order that is crucial to the life of a democracy.

The on-going debate over the scope of protection provided under the First Amendment reflects …

Algeria's Fundamentalists: Their Historical Context And Prospects For Success, Michael L. Smith

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Islamic fundamentalism, also known as Islamicism or Islamic revivalism, is a move ment that has become much more visible in the last two decades. Fundamentalist groups have been growing in membership in many Middle Eastern nations, but the Islamic revivalist movement was most prominent in the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, in which radical Shi'ites seizea power from the Shah and his monarchy. A decade later, as that Islamic regime maintains power, many Islamic fundamentalist groups and parties have proliferated throughout the Muslim world. Although they do not hold power in any other country, in many nations Islamic fundamentalists are …

Industrial Technology Faculty's Valuation Of Consulting And Professional Performance, Daniel Richard Meyer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate university industrial technology faculty relationships between their consulting with industrial and perceptions of professional performance. The question addressed was that if effects on teaching ability, research activity, scholarly publishing, and public service arising from this activity. The information obtained adds to knowledge and may be useful for administrators in supporting this form of public service. The result should be increased faculty competence, better prepared students, and increased industrial competitiveness.

Exogenous variables of consulting with industry, competency maintenance, theory testing, enthusiasm regeneration, research opportunity, and scholarly publishing were identified as having potential impact …

A Status Survey Of The Reading Habits Of Starmont High School Graduates, Linda Wallace

Graduate Research Papers

A Status Survey of the Reading Habits of Starmont High School Graduates reports on the reading habits of the graduates of the classes of 1976, 1981, 1986, and 1991. The purpose of the study was to determine if Starmont is producing graduates who are self-motivated readers . The author's intent was to also gain insight into the relationship between ability, education level achieved, reading attitude and the actual reading habits of Starmont graduates. A survey was sent to 289 graduates and resulted in 198 surveys being returned. Six hypotheses were tested with one, three, five, and six being accepted and …

A Review And Modification Of Wilson And Herrnstein's Integrated Theory Of Criminality As It Pertains To Serial Murder And Serial Rape, Karen Bower Mead

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis presents a review and modification of Wilson and Herrnstein's integrated theory of criminality in an effort to explain serial murder and serial rape. The crimes of serial murder and serial rape are described as offenses which appear to be unprovoked and "senseless" and as well are predatory and repetitious in nature. The objective of this thesis is to further understand and explain the occurrence of these particular criminal offenses through the integration of existing theories of behavior.

Wilson and Herrnstein's theory is discussed and modified specifically to address the criminality exhibited by serial murderers and serial rapists. Their …

North American Social Values In Costa Rican Corporate Advertising, Nuria Estrada

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of using global advertising in the United States and Costa Rica. The researcher used content analysis to study words and images related to social values presented in 375 North American and 125 Costa Rican corporate advertisements during the decade 1980-1990. The social values found in these samples were classified according to the categories of the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). Specifically, the researcher used what Rokeach called terminal values which are more socially oriented than personal values. A Chi-square statistical test was used to determine if differences between North American and …

The Inventory Of Negative Thoughts In Response To Pain And The Pain Cognition List: Norms And Psychometric Properties Of Two Measures Of Pain Cognition, Timothy John Haines

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Inventory of Negative Thoughts in Response to Pain (INTRP) and the Pain Cognition List (PCL) are two instruments recently developed to assess pain patients ' cognitions. Although both measures appear to be psychometrically sound, the reliability and validity of these measures have received inadequate attention. The norms and psychometric properties of both measures were investigated in a nonclinical college population. For each measure, items loading on the extracted factors differed somewhat for the normative samples. Thus, the factor structures of both inventories were investigated, using principal components factor analysis. Satisfactory internal consistency estimates were obtained for each factor scale …

The Effects Of Sport Participation On Self-Concept Among Mentally Retarded Adolescent Athletes, Jennifer Denise Brookins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sport participation on self-concept among mentally retarded adolescent athletes. It was also the intent of this investigation to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between self-concept and sport participation. It was hypothesized that sport participation improves self-concept among mentally retarded adolescent athletes.

Rosenberg's (1962) Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) (cited in Corcoran & Fisher, 1987) was administered to 12 mentally retarded adolescent athletes, aged 13-21. A pretest and posttest was given to the participants. Only 10 of the original 12 participants completed the posttest. The study was completed with 5 …

The Effects Of Ingested Carbonation On Oxygen Transport And Ventilation In Trained Distance Runners, Stacy Jean Ingraham

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of consumption of carbonated beverages on maximal aerobic capacity, as measured by maximal oxygen consumption (VO2MAX), and respiratory physiology, as measured by ventilation frequency (f), ventilatory equivalent for oxygen and carbon dioxide (O2VE, co2VE), expired minute ventilation (VE), carbon dioxide output (VCO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and tidal volume (VT).

Thirteen male high school, collegiate and post collegiate distance runners from the local community performed two maximal treadmill tests exactly one week apart, following two different fluid ingestion treatments. The subjects were randomly assigned to a carbonated beverage or noncarbonated …

General And Specific Job Satisfaction, Work Content, And Work Group Size, Heidi Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Five hundred and ninety-six participants working in lower level clerical positions in 21 work groups from five insurance organizations in the U.S. were administered the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). It was hypothesized that work group size would have an effect on four dependent measures provided by the JDS, which were: general job satisfaction, social satisfaction, growth satisfaction, and Motivating Potential Score (MPS). Two separate sets of statistical tests (Pearson r correlations and one-way ANOVAs) indicated no support for the hypotheses tested. However, one separate correlation (growth satisfaction x MPS) which examined a psychometric dimension of the JDS was significant.

A Qualitative Study Of The Communicative Acts Involved In The Coming Out Process Of Male Homosexuals, Heidi Lynn Hinds

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The intent with this qualitative study was to explore the communicative acts involved in the coming out process of male homosexuals. The participants in this study were 10, male, selfidentified homosexuals living in Black Hawk County, Iowa. The participants ranged in age from 21 to 40, and also differed in how long they had been involved in the coming out process. The participants were selected through personal encounters or referral by other individuals. Two research questions were posed. The first question posed was, "What communication is involved in the coming out process of male homosexuals?" The second question posed was, …

Adult Student Perceptions Of Traditionally Sex-Typed Toys, Shelly Lynn Jackson

Dissertations and Theses

studies have examined children's toy preferences as they relate to sex-role development. However, studies have failed to examine the dimensions of the toys themselves. Because adults purchase the majority of toys children receive, this study sought to determine adult student perceptions of children's traditionally sex-typed toys. Eighty-one participants rated ten selected toys. Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed five underlying dimensions. The five dimensions included Productive Play, Sociability, Structure, Gender, and Age. It was discovered that the Gender dimension was less salient than both the Productive Play and Sociability dimensions. The dimensions pertaining to each toy are discussed.

Sojourner Adjustment : A Diary Study, Susan Elizabeth Hemstreet

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of the ethnographic diary study is introduced and contextualized in the opening chapter with a site description. The thesis examines the diaries written during a sojourn of over two years in Japan . and proposes to answer the question, "How did the sojourner's initial maladjustment subsequently develop into satisfactory adjustment?"

Multidimensionality Of Power Use In Organizations And Its Correlates, Weizhong Dong

Dissertations and Theses

The present study was conducted to examine power use patterns and general power use strategies in organizations multidimensionally (i.e., downward, upward, and lateral directions of power use), to extend and explain previous findings by Kipnis et al. (1980), with reference to situational effects on multidimensional power use. The samples in this study consist of 230 full-time managers who were from eight local businesses, and a second sample of 140 college students who worked over 15 hours a week at the time of the study. Two exploratory factor analyses resulted in five commonly used power patterns and two general power use …

The Energy Crisis: The Case Of The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), With Special Reference To Nigeria, Ghana And Burkina Faso, Francis Bliss Lagbo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The energy crisis of West African countries has assumed major importance over the past few decades. The oil price increases of the 1970s have posed innumerable problems to these countries. But that is hardly the entire story. The vegetation cover of most places have been stripped so bare that people must walk for hours to find the day's supply of firewood, the traditional energy source. Doing something about the problem involves, first of all, understanding what the situation really is. This study provides an analysis of the spatial, sectoral and social inequalities in energy production and consumption in BCOWAS. Scrutiny …