Sociology Commons^™

An Analysis Of The Effects Of A Low Glycemic Diet On The Antisocial Behavior Of Juvenile Offenders, James Edward Longhurst

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine if a low glycemic diet contributes to a reduction in the incidence of antisocial behavior among male juvenile offenders.

One hundred forty juvenile offenders at a residential treatment center were randomly divided into treatment and nontreatment groups. The treatment group ate from a diet which contained foods low in glycemic characteristics. There was no dietary alteration for the control group.

Three instruments were used to measure differences between groups in antisocial behavior following a 5-week experimental period. These instruments include: (1) the Unusual Incident Report--a systematic and objective observer report form, (2) …

The Meaning Of Marriage To The Voluntarily Childless Couple, June Ann Smith

Dissertations

Problem. The literature is replete with findings to show that childlessness is a contemporary and growing trend. However, no known study has been done to explore what marriage means to the couple who chooses childlessness. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of marriage to the voluntarily childless couple.

Method. This study was done with a purposive sample of 42 couples. These couples were selected from referrals made through contact with a local radio station. Some were selected from referrals made by church pastors who were aware of couples in their congregations who are voluntarily childless, …

The Validity Of The Kinetic Family Drawing As A Measure Of Self-Concept And Parent/Child Relationship Among Chinese Children In Taiwan, Mei-Mei Cho

Dissertations

Problem

Valid psychological instruments for use with Chinese children in Taiwan are scarce. The present study attempted to validate the Kinetic Family Drawing as a measure of the self in the family context as well as the perceived parent-child relationship among Chinese children in Taiwan, and to obtain normative data on the KFD for this population.

Method

A correlational research design was used to determine the validity of the KFD using aSemantic Differential (SD) of four concepts--"Father and Me," "Mother and Me," "Me," and "My Whole Family"--as a criterion measure. The KFDs were rated for 80 variables recommended by Burns …

The Social World Of Athletes: Social And Psychological Distinguishable Characteristics Of Four Collectives Of Athletes, Ellen Jeanne Meyers

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Structures Of The Self: A Study Of The Female Life Cycle Through Autobiographies Of Representative French Women Authors, Sonia Aladjem

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Caring, Curing, And Coordinating In Hospital Nursing: Three Decades Of Technical Change, Karole Schafer Heyrman

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of American College Students About Arabs: The Role Of Mass Media And Personal Contact In The Formation Of Stereotypes, Mansour Owaid Aljeaid

Dissertations

American students, as well as people of other nations, form perceptions of others who differ from their own cultural, racial, and social groups. These mental pictures are "stereotypes."

The purpose of this study was to identify stereotypes that American students enrolled at Western Michigan University (WMU) had about Arabs and to determine if there were differences in these stereotypes when students were classified by race, sex, level of education, age, and sources of stereotypes. Twenty-five bipolar adjectives were organized as semantic differential scales to assess students' perceptions. The instrument was either mailed or hand delivered to a sample of 400 …

The Relationship Between Learning Disabilities And Juvenile Delinquency In Macomb County Juvenile Court (1983-84), Rita M. Bologna

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency in the Macomb County Juvenile Court System. Because of the presence of several key variables, it was believed that learning disabilities was a unique trait of the detained population.

The population consisted of 517 male and female detained and adjudicated delinquents that were admitted to the facility during the 1983-84 school year. Biographical and crime related data were gathered by hand searches of the legal file. The learning disabled or non-learning-disabled classification resulted from interpretation of the scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test …

Successful Women: A Racial Comparison Of Variables Contributing To Socialization And Leadership Development, J. Baraka Love

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify variables that have contributed to the growth and development of successful women and to explore whether those variables were the same for Black and White women by comparing the perceptions and backgrounds of women who have reached top level positions in the fields of education, business, human services, and government.

Data were collected by questionnaires from 547 women respondents out of a sample of 1,500 identified in Who's Who in America (43rd ed., 1985) and Who's Who Among Black Americans (4th ed., 1985). The response rate was 38.4%; 298 (19.9%) were Black …

The Arabs In Israel: A National Minority And Cheap Labor Force, A Split Labor Market Analysis, Samir M. Miari

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Grammars Of The Old Age Problem: From Activity Theory To Alzheimer's Disease, Robert Joseph Lynott

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Social Role Importance: The Interplay Of Experience And Expectation In The Lives Of Chicago Area Women, Debra Barnewolt

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Multiple Work Roles And Identities Of Adjunct Faculty In American Two-Year Colleges, Michael E. Kuchera

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Scientific-Technological Dependency And Uneven Development: The Case Of Iran, Abdullah Mehdipour

Dissertations

With the decline of various forms of military and economic power of the more industrialized countries (MICs) as the primary control structure for maintaining the dominance/dependence relationships with the less industrialized countries (LICs) in the international political and economic system, science and technology has emerged as a significant means for sustaining international status quo.

The problem of the study was stated in two questions. First, why and how Iran (an LIC) became dependent on more industrialized countries' science and technology. Second, what effect(s) did Iran's scientific-technological dependency have on its social structure, and what is the more appropriate strategy for …

Organizational Deviance In The Direct Selling Industry: A Case Study Of The Amway Corporation, Carol Lynn Juth-Gavasso

Dissertations

Drawing upon the literatures of organizational theory, sociology, criminology, and entrepreneurship, the intent of this study was to develop a theoretical model which would explain the creation and maintenance of organizational deviance in a direct selling organization. Based upon the work of Cole, Finney and Lesieur, Hughes, Gross, and Vaughan the utility of the model is illustrated with data gathered on the Amway Corporation, a multilevel direct selling organization. The model takes into consideration (1) the environment of the organization; (2) the goals of the organization; (3) the structure of the organization; and (4) the pressures, constraints, and controls which …

The Familial Interrelationship Patterns, Socialization, And Juvenile Delinquency: An Integrated Theory And Research, Alan J. Pearl

Dissertations

Delinquency is widespread within American society. Americans are publicly and privately faced with high costs from delinquency. The theoretical development and research are now beginning to shed light upon the dynamics underlying delinquency. To understand and effectively deal with delinquency, more knowledge is necessary on its root causes. This dissertation is intended to provide more etiological knowledge.

Delinquent behavior is seen to be embedded within the interpersonal dynamics of the family at the level of socialization between parents and children. Essentially, the quality of the marital and parent-child dyads can facilitate or impede the socialization of youth. Socialization ineffectiveness leaves …

Premarital Preparation : An Educational Content Design For Seventh-Day Adventists In The United States, Roger H. Ferris

Dissertations

Problem. The church participates in the marriage process by providing its facilities, performing the ceremony, and establishing marriage supportive norms. Increasing divorce rates produce calls for premarital preparationefforts by the church. It was the purpose of the present study to develop a validated educational content design for Seventh-day Adventists useful to the church in preparing couples for marriage.

Method. An analysis of the relevant literature from religious and secular authorities was made to isolate factors deemed important to adequate premarital preparation. These factors were then rank-ordered.

A random sample of seven hundred presently married Seventh-day Adventists from the northwestern, midwestern, …

The Employed Versus The Nonemployed Mother: The Effects On The Seventh-Day Adventist Family In Southwestern Michigan, A. Melville Lawson

Dissertations

Previous research indicates that researchers are not always agreed as to the negative or positive effects that the employed mother has on the family. The purpose of this study was to research the effects that the nonemployed and employed Seventh-day Adventist mother, in southwestern Michigan, has on the family.

The broad hypothesis for this study is that nonemployed mothers have a more positive effect on families, in general, as opposed to mothers who were employed outside of the home.

Two hundred Seventh-day Adventist mothers, after completing a specially designed instrument, were placed in various categories depending on the numbers of …

Crisis In Middle Management: A Study Of The Catholic Church In Chicago, Anthony J. Vader

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Religious Organizational Socialization In The Evangelical Free Church Of America, Kenneth W. Inskeep

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Father-Presence And Father-Absence On The Self-Concept Of Black Males In Special Education And Regular Education Classes, Queen Esther Woodard

Dissertations

This study compared the self-concept of Black males residing in father-present and father-absent low socioeconomic status homes, who were between the ages of 8-12, and who were enrolled in emotionally impaired, or regular education classes. Literature indicated that since 1970, the number of children reared in one-parent homes has increased by over 60%, with over 90% of these children living with their mothers. This changing lifestyle has prompted researchers to investigate the effects of father-absence on children; especially on boys.

It was hypothesized that self-concept would be influenced by father status, chronological age, and class placement. These three independent variables …

Underdevelopment And State Capitalism: A Cross-National Study, Massoud Chalabi

Dissertations

This is an inquiry into the nature and developmental role of state capitalism (SC) in the Third World. In an effort to enhance understanding of the problem of underdevelopment in general and to gain understanding of state capitalism in particular, contributions and limitations of basic theories of development were examined via a positive critique. State capitalism, as a political movement under the political leadership of middle classes, is a response to the structural crisis and chronic crisis of authority to which misborn capitalism has been facing in the Third World since its emergence. Once state capitalism comes to exist, the …

The Influence Of Perceived Teachers' And Parents' Expectations On Student Achievement, William Zollweg

Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of perceived teacher and parent expectations on student achievement. Additionally, variations in perceived expectations were measured for students with different sex, race, and socioeconomic background. The sample population consisted of 283 tenth-grade students in a large midwestern school district. Results indicate that students with higher teacher and parent perceived expectations score higher on standardized tests of reading achievement. Furthermore, student perception of teacher and parent expectation varied directly with socioeconomic status.

Life Events, Social Support, And Health: An Examination, Kathleen Anne Tiemann

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between life events, social support, and health by testing a theoretically derived model. Regression analysis reveals that the number of undesirable health-related events explains most of the variation in reported health problems. Yet, when undesirable health-related events are added to the dependent variable, only five percent of the variation is explained. This finding suggests a measurement problem: the tautology of health-related events and health outcomes. The impact of this measurement problem is further illustrated through path analysis. When the tautology is removed, only two of the eight predictor variables remain in the model. Suggestions for …

Public Universities And Societal Development – Application Of The Ideal Type Methodology In The Case Studies Of Addis Ababa University And Michigan State University, Solomon Wako

Dissertations

The role of higher education in societal development has been addressed by a number of scholars in various fields including sociology. Though these scholars virtually agree on the importance of university education, they have not identified the type of the university that facilitates the kind of societal development they advocate. Therefore, this study is concerned with the construction of a theoretical model of the ideal type university that will facilitate the conceptualization of societal development for Ethiopia and the USA. The study employs Weber's ideal type methodology which simply refers to the construction of certain elements of reality into logically …

Two Faces Of Alienation: A Study Of The Iranian Students' Activism And Passivity In American Universities, Alireza Mohseni-Tabrizi

Dissertations

The relationship between Iranian students' alienation from the Iranian politics and society and their social and political activism is examined at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Western Michigan University. The major goals of the study are to determine if there is a significant difference in the alienation levels of students who are politically and socially active and those who are not prone to participate in social and political activities, and to compare and contrast activists and non-activists by testing several propositions about characteristics of alienated students. The analysis of the data shows strong support for all six …

College Impact On Religiosity Of Muslim Students Studying In The United States, Hamid Pouryoussefi

Dissertations

The major purpose of this study was to examine the religiosity of Muslim students studying in the United States. Religiosity was viewed as a four-dimensional variable: belief dimension, ritual dimension, experiential dimension, and consequential dimension. In addition, a combined index of religiosity was created.

The five hypotheses tested were: (1) The higher the academic status of the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (2) There is an association between the religiosity of students and their major fields of study. (3) The more courses taken in social sciences by the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (4) …

Socioeconomic Change And Deviance: Homicide And Suicide, Conrad M. Kozak

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Relation Between Degree Of American Acculturation And Androgyny, Chui-Liu Serena Gui

Dissertations

Problem. Research has identified culture as one of the factors which reinforces sex-appropriate behaviors and punishes inappropriate behaviors for each gender. The purpose of this study was to validate the theory that culture is an influencing factor in the development of sex-role acquisition through studying two diversely different cultures.

Method. This study employed the Bem Inventory for the measurement of sex-role typing. There were a total of 374 college-age females from either a Chinese culture or Anglo-American culture who participated in the study.The subjects were divided into five groups according to the degree of American acculturation. Three null hypotheses were …

Religious Value Transmission Among Seventh-Day Adventist White American Families : A Cognitive Approach To Parental Values And Relationship As Perceived By Youth, Claude M. Villeneuve

Dissertations

Three research questions were examined: (1) What role does cognitive-attribution play in religious value transmission? (2) Is there a generation gap in the religious values of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) families? (3) What is the influence of parental support on value transmission?

The Religious Value Transmission Study (RVTS) questionnaire was developed. The internal reliabilities of the fundamental belief, attitude, and behavior scales was, for each scale, above .80. A factor analysis with a rotation of factors confirmed the construct validity of the scales. A nation-wide random selection of SDA college freshmen and sophomores, and their parents returned 1089 questionnaires representing an …