Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Free Trade Areas In Trade Promotion: Gravity Model Approach, Mona Jit Mui Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Since the early 1990s, the world has seen a proliferation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). One of the key objectives of FTAs is to expand trade between or amongst its signatories. This study explores the intra-FTA and extra-FTA trade expansion capability of 3 types of FTA: North-North FTA (European Union (EU)-15 as a representative), North-South FTA (North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a representative) and South-South FTA (Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN ) Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) as a representative). The study made an attempt to address the spread of such FTA-led trade expansion amongst the members and …

Testing Heterogeneity In Panel Data Models With Interactive Fixed Effects, Qihui Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper proposes a test for the slope homogeneity in large dimensional panel data models with interactive fixed effects based on a measure of goodness-of-fit (R²). We first obtain, for each cross-sectional unit, the R² from the time series regression of residuals on the constant and observable regressors and then construct the test statistic R² as an equally weighted average of the cross-sectional R²'s. R̄² is close to 0 under the null hypothesis of homogenous slopes and deviates away from 0 otherwise. We show that after being appropriately centered and scaled, R^{2 …}

Anchoring Change In Higher Education : Narratives From Senior Executives At Malcolm Baldrige Award-Winning Institutions, Cheryl H. Kisunzu

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to explore Kotter’s (1996) eighth stage for leading change. Specifically, it is to identify strategies for anchoring planned change in institutions of higher education.

Design. This is a qualitative multiple case study. Each of the participating organizations is an institution of higher education uniquely distinguished as a recipient of the United State’s highest recognition for progressive excellence—the Malcolm Baldrige Award. A narrative design is used to conduct in-depth exploration of leading planned change, specifically anchoring this planned change into the culture of academic institutions of higher learning. Purposeful sampling was used to identify …

Body Image And Body Type Preferences In St. Kitts, Caribbean: A Cross- Cultural Comparison With U.S. Samples Regarding Attitudes Towards Muscularity, Body Fat, And Breast Size, Peter B. Gray, David Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

We investigated body image in St. Kitts, a Caribbean island where tourism, international media, and relatively high levels of body fat are common. Participants were men and women recruited from St. Kitts (n = 39) and, for comparison, U.S. samples from universities (n = 618) and the Internet (n = 438). Participants were shown computer generated images varying in apparent body fat level and muscularity or breast size and they indicated their body type preferences and attitudes. Overall, there were only modest differences in body type preferences between St. Kitts and the Internet sample, with the St. Kitts participants being …

Selfobject Needs, Homophobia, Heterosexism, Among Gay Men During Emerging Adulthood, Kenneth D. Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was conducted to determine the associations between homophobia and heterosexism, psychodynamics of the subconscious mind, and life satisfaction among gay men during emerging adulthood. Although researchers have reported on the psychological distress associated with antigay oppression, limited research is available on the psychodynamics of young gay men in the United States, a place known for prevalent homophobia and heterosexism. Kohut's theory of self psychology and self object needs served as the theoretical foundation for the study. Selfobject needs, perceived homophobic and heterosexist discrimination, and life satisfaction were explored in a national sample of 118 gay men aged 18-25 …

Understanding Psychosocial Rehabilitation Workers' Perceptions Of Difficult Psychiatric Situations, James B. Arnold

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) is a community-based service that addresses the challenges faced by people diagnosed as having psychiatric disabilities. While working with co workers and clients, PSR workers may harbor perceptions that could lower the effectiveness of their work and hinder recovery by their clients. Although cognitive-behavioral theory has suggested an association, research has not yet connected PSR worker attitudes about psychiatric situations to their feelings and behavior. In this nonexperimental factorial design, 196 PSR workers were surveyed about the frustrations presented by stressful interpersonal job situations using the Psychiatric Situations Scale to identify whether occupation (case workers, residential workers, …

Perspectives Of Close Relatives In Pediatric Palliative Care: A Grounded Theory Approach, Janelle Marie Feyh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Pediatric palliative care has recently become a priority in the healthcare field and is implemented at the time of diagnosis rather than days or weeks before the child's death. Social constructivism theory in which humans generate meaning from their experiences was utilized as a general framework to determine the impact of pediatric palliative care on close relatives. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate a substantive theory that explains how close relatives such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles of a child with cancer experience palliative care. The participants of the study included close relatives of children in …

Students' Perceptions Of A Mobile Application For College Course Management Systems, Roopa Mathur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Higher education administrators need data on student perceptions to support their decision making regarding mobile learning (m-learning) applications. There is a lack of research addressing students' perceptions of mobile applications for course management systems (CMS). The findings of this study may help administrators understand students' perceptions of a CMS m-learning application, Blackboard Mobile Learn (BML). This m-learning application is available on mobile devices, such as the iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry smartphones. The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to explore the linear relationship between the independent variables of students' perceptions of usefulness and students' perceptions of …

A Delphi Study Regarding Assessment Of Intelligence In The Presence Of Autism, Sara Spencer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has indicated children with autistic disorder often demonstrate below average intelligence. Others have suggested intelligence of the autistic population has been underestimated. A gap in the current literature reflects the need to examine the accuracy of assessment of intelligence of children with autistic disorder. The research questions underlying this study addressed tools professionals use to assess intelligence of children with autistic disorder, how tools are selected, the level of confidence in the accuracy of results, and what level of consensus exists among experts. This Delphi study used a panel of 20 autistic disorder experts and 3 rounds of surveys …

A Case Study Investigating The Interpretation And Implementation Of The Transformative Mediation Technique, Chuks Petrus Nweke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For decades, unresolved conflicts have negatively influenced the general public through increased violence, overwhelming the judicial system. A literature review suggested that between 15% and 20% of conflicts result in an impasse. This study was designed to understand how the implementation and application of the transformative meditation technique (TMT) is used to resolve conflicts. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the interpretation and implementation of TMT. This qualitative case study was grounded in the conceptual framework of interest-based negotiation (IBN) principles. The research questions focused on mediators' perceptions, interpretations, and depth of knowledge, as well as …

Perceptions Of White Men On Affirmative Action Planning, Linda Lee Hansken

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the perceptions of White men on whether they should or should not be treated with total equality and be included in affirmative action (AA) planning in the workplace. Previous studies explored the topic of discrimination toward white males and AA. Using Festinger's cognitive-dissonance theory and Adams's theory of equity, this study focused on research questions addressing basic knowledge of AA planning, perceived discrimination, dissonance, and, the perceptions of White men about AA planning. Using phenomenological methodology, data were collected from personal interviews, and analyzed by obtaining a sense of the phenomenon, categorizing the interviews into meaningful and …

The Effects Of An Integrated Health And Physical Education Program On Student Achievement, Myralynn B. Catchings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In recent years, several schools have addressed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 by focusing on promoting skill acquisition in reading and math, often overlooking physical education (PE) as a significant part of a child's education. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated health and physical education (HPE) program on student achievement. This study was grounded in action-based learning theories. The research question examined differences in posttest scores, adjusted for pretest differences, from 204 freshman students enrolled in a Biology-1 class at an urban high school. Students in Group A …

Union And Nonunion Employment: An Investigative Study Of Factors In The Employment Setting That May Influence The Development Of Burnout, Rachel Elizabeth Costello

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The primary goal of this two-phased, sequential mixed-methods study was to discover whether union affiliation is associated with a lower occurrence of burnout in factory workers by comparing union and nonunion workers. The objective was to determine levels of burnout in union and nonunion employees as well their perception of social support in the workplace. The theoretical synthesis consisted of conservation of resources theory and the theory of reasoned action. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and the Quality of Worklife Questionnaire were used to identify the characteristics of the workplace (job demands and job resources) and the level of burnout. …

The Relationship Between Computer-Mediated Communication And The Employment Of Deaf People, James A. Schiller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Job satisfaction results from a workplace meeting individual needs for income, belonging, and professional growth. Accordingly, core factors contributing to satisfaction vary across individuals and groups. Deaf people have traditionally located satisfying employment among enclaves of other deaf people working within the predominantly manufacturing oriented economy of the 20th Century. With the current shift toward more spatially distributed service industries in the 21 stcentury, there is little research on factors that contribute to job satisfaction among deaf people engaged in this new workforce. Operating from a theoretical perspective of worker/environment fit proposed by Alderfer, the exploratory correlational study investigated relationships …

A Review Of The Department Of The Army's Decentralized Cost Benefit Analysis Process, Gerard M. Acosta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

From 1996 to 2006, the number of Department of Defense (DoD) contract transactions increased, leading to over expenditures and the need for agencies to determine benefit estimation to improve risk management of a project. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply a total quality management theory to explore if a standardized versus decentralized benefits framework within the cost benefit analysis process could improve the Department of the Army acquisition selection process. The two central research questions addressed (a) the differences between successful and failed acquisition systems cost benefit analysis, and (b) whether a standardized or decentralized cost …

Foundations Of School Stakeholder's Perceptions Related To School Building Conditions And Learning, James T. White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As school buildings continue to age, school stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the influence school facilities have on the academic achievement of students, especially in urban low income school districts. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine school building conditions through the perceptions of 12 stakeholders including teachers, facility managers, administrators, and school board members in 3 school districts. The research question involved understanding how local school stakeholders perceived or acknowledged the relevance and relationship of school building conditions to student learning, social constructivism and aspects of organizational theory severed as the conceptual frameworks for this …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of The Influence Of Dimensions Of Support On Training Transfer, Laura A. Schindler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations invest a significant amount of time and money on training; however, most employees do not transfer what they learned in training to the specific tasks required in their job. While extant research suggests that supervisor support may facilitate training transfer, the influence of specific types or dimensions of support is still unknown. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to examine how specific dimensions of support (mentoring, coaching, social support, and task support) influence training transfer. Organizational support theory and the theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework for this study. Quantitative data were …

The Potential Role Of Business Intelligence In Church Organizations, Charmaine Felder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business intelligence (BI) involves transforming data into actionable information to make better business decisions that may help improve operations. Although businesses have experienced success with BI, how leaders of church organizations might be able to exploit the advantages of BI in church organizations remains largely unexplored. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of pastoral leaders concerning the potential usefulness of BI in church organizations. Conceptual support for the study was based on the premise that churches may also benefit from BI that helps improve decision making and organizational performance. Three research questions were used to …

The Impact Of Canine Companion Service Animal (Csa) Use On Social Behaviors Between Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders Who Use Csa And Those Who Do Not, Melanie D. Hoffman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to theory of the mind, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are unable to interpret the social cues of others, which results in anxiety and social behavior deficits . Individuals with ASD are currently using canine Companion Service Animals (CSAs) in order to practice developing attachment bonds ; however, no known quantitative studies have demonstrated the efficacy of CSA in improving social behaviors in ASD populations. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the extent to which exposure to CSA impacts social skills and social interaction in children and adolescents with ASD as measured by the parent …

The Development Of Tracking And Its Historical Impact On Minority Students, Deberae Culpepper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the 1920s, high school students were placed on one of three tracks: high, average, and low. Over the years, vocational education was transformed into a low track assignment for students, often racial minorities, who were perceived as less intelligent. However, the interaction between vocational education and tracking policies and practices remained unclear. Using critical race theory, this study produced an historical analysis of the interaction of these two programs. This included a systematic identification of the originating factors influencing tracking and contemporary tracking policies and practices to understand how tracking affected racial minority students' access to equal educational opportunities …

The Evolution Of The African American Mother-Daughter Relationship: A Grounded Theory Study, Toneka R. Etienne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The mother-daughter relationship holds a special place in the lives of African American women, given the rich history of women of African descent and the complexities of female relationships. However, few studies have discussed the evolution of this relationship and what it means in the lives of African American mothers and daughters. Using relational-cultural theory (RCT) and Black feminist theory, this qualitative grounded theory study described the experiences and evolution of the African American mother-daughter relationship. A sample of 10 mother-daughter dyads was interviewed together about their relationship. Research questions addressed how African American mothers and daughters define, maintain, and …

The Impact Of Company Grade Officer Self-Sacrificial Behavior On Subordinate Assessments Of Leader Charisma, Danjel Bout

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Newly commissioned officers in the U.S. Army are taught to lead their soldiers from the front and to voluntarily make personal sacrifices in the service of the nation. Although this facet of military culture is seen as critical to the integrity of the force, there are few research studies describing the impact of leader self-sacrifice in the U.S. Army. Research evolving from the transformational leadership literature indicates that civilian leaders who engage in self-sacrificial behavior are viewed as more charismatic than their counterparts and that this perception is particularly pronounced in crisis situations. The current study extended this research to …

How Adult Children Experience Parent Dependency In A Caregiving/Care-Receiving Dyad, Anna C. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite plentiful research on the physical, psychological, and emotional demands on adult child caregivers, there are few studies that highlight developmental issues in the adult child/dependent parent dyad. This study was designed to highlight the dependency factor in this dyad, thus addressing the gap in the literature. With family systems theory, attachment theory, and role conceptualizations constituting the bases for the study, research questions addressed how adult child caregivers experience parental dependency and how dependency affects the caregiving/care-receiving dynamic. Ten volunteer participants were interviewed, and the results were analyzed using a variation of the van Kaam method of data analysis …

The Impact Of Personalization-Based Tailored Instructional Communications On College Student Persistence, Nichole Gibbs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The low graduation rate of degree-seeking students at public community colleges is an important crisis facing communities across the United States. College satisfaction and withdrawal cognitions in students have been identified as key factors in college persistence by researchers. However, a review of the literature revealed no study in which a college-persistence intervention based on the personalization principle theory or using tailored messages has been conducted. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a college-persistence intervention, based on the personalization principle theory and Mashburn's theory, for students at a community college. This study used between-groups experimental …

Drills And Exercises As Interventions To Improve Public Health Emergency Response, Donna Beth Knutson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent anthrax attacks highlighted the inability of an antiquated public health system in the United States to respond effectively to emergencies. Little documentation exists to define how public health agencies can improve performance. The overarching research question was the extent to which drills and exercises improve performance in public health emergencies. Adult learning theory and deliberate practice theory were explored in this context. The research data were from 50 state public health departments, which were required to report performance information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The …

Enhancing The Ability Of Adults With Mild Mental Retardation To Recognize Facial Expression Of Emotions, Juna Michel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A critical element in the development of interpersonal skills is the ability to recognize facial expressions. However, in persons with mild mental retardation (PMR), social interactions based on the recognition of others' emotional states may be compromised. Guided by the theory of mind, which allows one to make inferences on someone's mental states, differentiate facts from friction, and process others' beliefs and intentions, this study determined if emotion training impacted future emotion recognition scores in a PMR population and whether the variables of gender, age, and baseline Facial Expression of Emotions Stimuli and Test (FEEST) scores predicted changes in emotion …

Exploration Of The Project Management Practitioner's Emotional Intelligence Competencies, Linda A. Hooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The success rate of information technology projects is on a downward trend, with reported losses in the billions of dollars. Recent studies indicate a 50--56% project success rate based on quality, budget, and on-time criteria. Building upon the conceptual framework of the emotional intelligence and knowledge management theories, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how project management practitioners apply self- and cultural-awareness competencies to affect project outcomes. Using a purposeful sampling method, 24 experienced U.S.-based project management practitioners participated in a web-based questionnaire. Following Giorgi's data reduction process resulted in numeric data coding. Thematic analysis revealed themes …

A Test Of An Evolutionary Theory Of Adiposity Gain Induced By Long Sleep In Descendants Of European Hunter-Gatherers, Oleksiy Chadyuk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have identified inadequate sleep duration as one of the factors contributing to global obesity. The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis deduced from a new sleep-duration-based evolutionary theory claiming that sleep extension in response to lengthening night duration in early fall evolved into a behavioral marker of an approaching winter; this adaptive trait was theorized to produce adiposity gain in White men in response to sleep extension. The hypothesis was that White Americans would show a greater increase in the age-adjusted fat mass index per unit of sleep duration compared to that of Black Americans. Data …

Asset Reuse Of Images From A Repository, Deirdre Herman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to Markus's theory of reuse, when digital repositories are deployed to collect and distribute organizational assets, they supposedly help ensure accountability, extend information exchange, and improve productivity. Such repositories require a large investment due to the continuing costs of hardware, software, user licenses, training, and technical support. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of evidence in the literature on whether users in fact reused enough digital assets in repositories to justify the investment. The objective of the study was to investigate the organizational value of repositories to better inform architectural, construction, software and other industries whether …

Prediction Of Air Traffic Controller Trainee Selection And Training Success Using Cognitive Ability And Biodata, Karen D. Fox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has experienced decreased return on investment caused by hiring too many air traffic controller specialists (ATCSs) who performed poorly in field training, thus failing to become certified professional controllers (CPCs). Based on Schmidt and Hunter's theory of job performance and biodata theory, this quantitative, archival study examined whether factors of cognitive ability and biodata could predict job performance status of 2 generations of ATCSs, poststrike (PS) and next generation (NG) controllers. For each generation of controllers, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine if any of the independent variables---transmuted composite (TMC) score for PS …