Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

The Experience Of Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder In The Workplace, Josephine Laverne Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with children for many decades, but it can continue into adulthood. However, little research has focused on adults with ADHD or the specific processes through which such adults mitigate the challenges they face, especially in the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative, grounded theory study was to provide a better understanding of the strategies and support systems adults with ADHD use to overcome workplace challenges. Self-efficacy theory grounded the study, allowing for an understanding of the lived experiences of adults with ADHD in the workplace. The researcher conducted 12 semistructured interviews with adults with …

Transformation As Desistance Inside: Temporality And Identity Reconstruction Among Men With Life Sentences, Richard Stover

Honors Theses

This thesis is an investigation of destistance strategies among men sentenced to life in prison in a medium security prison in Pennsylvania. Desistance here is defined as the process leading to the cessation of formally deviant behavior. Drawing from life narrative interviews conducted among 22 men, I argue that desistance is intrinsically tied to how inmates conceptualize themselves within the institutional context of the prison and can be expanded to include people who are still incarcerated. I build off of Peggy Giordano and colleagues symbolic interactionist perspective on desistance and expand it to chart how men with life sentences order …

The Morphology Of Sex: Tracking Change In The Sex Discourse At Augustana College, Robert E. Burke

Audre Lorde Prize

Here, I track how the criteria for deeming sex as acceptable or unacceptable have changed over time at Augustana College. To do so, I apply two critical lenses to archived issues of the Augustana Observer. The first lens involves Rubin's concept of the "sex hierarchy," a variety of categories by which we may judge sex as good or bad. The second lens is related to Berlant and Warner's "national heterosexuality," a concept that claims that sexual norms are intrinsically elastic but politically, culturally, and economically firm under capitalism. Making use of a localized "snapshot" approach, I use recent Augustana history …

The Effect Of Question Characteristics On Question Reading Behaviors In Telephone Surveys, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Antje Kirchner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Asking questions fluently, exactly as worded, and at a reasonable pace is a fundamental part of a survey interviewer’s role. Doing so allows the question to be asked as intended by the researcher and may decrease the risk of measurement error and contribute to rapport. Despite the central importance placed on reading questions exactly as worded, interviewers commonly misread questions, and it is not always clear why. Thus, understanding the risk of measurement error requires understanding how different interviewers, respondents, and question features may trigger question reading problems. In this article, we evaluate the effects of question features on question …

A Comparison Of Fully Labeled And Top-Labeled Grid Question Formats, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The grid question format is common in mail and web surveys. In this format, a single question stem introduces a set of items, which are listed in rows of a table underneath the question stem. The table’s columns contain the response options, usually only listed at the top, with answer spaces arrayed below and aligned with the items (Dillman et al. 2014).This format is efficient for respondents; they do not have to read the full question stem and full set of response options for every item in the grid. Likewise, it is space efficient for the survey researcher, which reduces …

Consumer Credit Card Debt And Immigrants: A Cross-Sectional Study Of U.K. Immigrants’ Financial Capability, Paul Wesley Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is the ubiquitous nature and high level of consumer debt associated with certain demographics; however, research in the context of immigrants in the U.K. are limited. The problem is the lack of information about the association between credit card debt and immigrants, specifically on whether the income gap between U.K. immigrants and British citizens affects the level of consumer debt. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional correlational study is to examine whether there is an association between the income gap that exists between immigrants and British citizens and their respective levels of consumer debt, …

The Effectiveness Of African American Male Faith-Based Juvenile Delinquency, Dewaun C. Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Southeast region of the United States is experiencing an increase in the amount of crime in the African American community particularly among juveniles. Furthermore, the rate of African American juveniles being arrested is higher than arrest rates among other races. This problem reveals the need for reformation and rehabilitation programs to reduce recidivism in the juvenile justice system. Research indicates that juveniles who have attachments to a conventional institution commit fewer delinquent acts. Although attachments to sports and other programs are positively associated with the social bond theory, it was unclear what aspects of the church program might influence …

Is Lying Contagious? Spatial Diffusion Of High-Yield “Satellites” During China’S Great Leap Forward, Hongwei Xu, Geng Tian

Publications and Research

Situated in China’s Great Leap Forward (GLF) campaign in 1958, this study examines the spatial diffusion of “launching high-yield satellites”— exaggerating grain yields, which contributed to the 1959–61 GLF famine that claimed millions of human lives. The authors conceptualize exaggerating grain yields as a political innovation adopted by local cadres to endorse the GLF and signal political loyalty to their superiors. Using geocoded county-level event history data from historical newspaper archives, the authors found that the diffusion of exaggerating grain yields across the country was primarily driven by the interaction between geographic proximity and political proximity.

Thrown Together: Credit Union And Commercial Bank Regulation And Competition In The Consumer Finance Industry, 1960-2015, Grace Cale

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This project seeks to assess whether there are meaningful differences between the stability of the Credit Union and Consumer Banking industries before the 1980s, and how both industries’ stability had been affected by subsequent political-economic changes. I also sought to assess if deregulation would make credit union behave at risk levels similar to banks. I initially observed that there was a strong inverse correlation between credit union size and failures, which I argue could be explained by regulatory change. This claim was strengthened by the observation that credit unions had benefitted from certain key forms of deregulation, they were still …

Easily Overstated: Estimating The Relationship Between State Justice Policy Environments And Falling Rates Of Youth Confinement, Douglas N. Evans, Gina Moreno, Kevin T. Wolff, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers used state-level data on youth justice policies and practices to explore the association between state policy environments and recent changes in the use of residential placements for adjudicated youth (i.e., confinement). The study assigned a score to each of the 50 states based on the extent to which their youth justice policy environments could be considered "progressive" as opposed to punitive or regressive. Using data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice's compendium of justice system characteristics, "Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics" (JJGPS), the research team created an index that accounts for 16 policies that are more …

Examining Public Opinion About Abortion: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Of Research Over The Last 15 Years, Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim, Leevia Dillon

Publications and Research

Although abortion became legal four decades ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. While researchers have been interested in the factors shaping abortion attitudes, there are almost no reviews of this work. We examine the factors shaping Americans’ abortion attitudes and assess the state of published peer-reviewed articles in this area over the last 15 years. Using a mixed-methods systematic review, we analyze and critique the findings from 116 journal articles that have examined attitudes about abortion between 2001 and 2016. Amongst the many predictors and outcomes examined, we show that religion is by far the most utilized statistically …

Unpacking The Black Box Of Survey Costs, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a critically important input to and constraint on the quality of data collected from surveys. Much about survey costs is unknown, leading to lack of understanding of the drivers of survey costs, the relationship between survey costs and survey errors, and difficulty in justifying the importance of survey data versus other available administrative or organic data. This commentary outlines a recently developed typology for survey costs, illustrates this typology using methodological articles that report on costs in pharmacy surveys, and provides recommendations for research on the relationship between fixed and variable costs as a major area for …

What Makes Collaborative Evaluation Approaches Collaborative? A Q Methodology Study On Program Evaluators’ Perceptions, Dax M. Weaver

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore program evaluators’ perceptions about what they consider to be the essential practices, elements, or attributes of collaborative evaluation approaches (CEAs). This topic was investigated because of the increasing use of CEAs within the field and the ambiguity about what does and does not constitute a CEA. Several researchers have proposed frameworks that attempt to define the essential elements that distinguish CEAs from other evaluation approaches; however, the literature still lacks consensus on their exact nature. It was through an examination of evaluators’ viewpoints on the subject using Q Methodology that this study …

High Tech, High Risk: Tech Ethics Lessons For The Covid-19 Pandemic Response, Emanuel Moss, Jacob Metcalf

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has, in a matter of a few short months, drastically reshaped society around the world. Because of the growing perception of machine learning as a technology capable of addressing large problems at scale, machine learning applications have been seen as desirable interventions in mitigating the risks of the pandemic disease. However, machine learning, like many tools of technocratic governance, is deeply implicated in the social production and distribution of risk and the role of machine learning in the production of risk must be considered as engineers and other technologists develop tools for the current crisis. This paper …

Measuring Levels Of Posttraumatic Growth In Firefighters, Anna Lisa De Lima

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Firefighters provide essential lifesaving services to the community. They are at high risk for mental health issues due to their exposure to trauma in the line of duty. Moreover, adverse effects on mental health can affect their ability to provide appropriate care to the community resulting in a serious social problem. Researchers have explored the concept that individuals can also experience growth from trauma. However, there are few studies that explore the factors that can predict growth in firefighters. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the degree to which selected variables such as the level of posttraumatic …

Strategies To Reduce Voluntary Employee Turnover, Patricia M. Alexander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High voluntary turnover negatively impacts an organization's profits, resulting in high expenses for businesses. The findings contribute to practical ways for small business leaders to maintain long-term employees, minimize operational costs, and enhance local economic stability. Grounded in the concept of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies small business leaders use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The participants comprised 5 private industry leaders in the state of Virginia, who were successful in reducing voluntary employee turnover. Data collected through semistructured face-to-face interviews and analysis of company documents. Based on Yin's …

Predictors Of The Health Effects Of Marijuana Use On The Hepatic Function, Makafui Kokou Gbogbo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The quantity of marijuana use, the length of time it was used, and the age of initiation of the drug are at the core of the discussions about the potential health effects of marijuana use on the liver. Results of recent studies regarding how the drug affects human health have resulted in a number of conflicting conclusions. Nevertheless, based on these findings, marijuana users are being denied liver transplants. The objective of this study was to identify predictors of the health effects of marijuana on the liver and provide guidance in the care management of marijuana users. To address the …

Experiences Of Long-Term Stay Among Homeless Millennials In New York City Shelters, Xellex Z. Rivera

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of homeless millennials seeking shelter in New York City (NYC) increases

nightly. Aside from seeking shelter services, millennial adults are also staying in shelters longer than the time allotted by the city. Their extended stay places a burden on city resources and taxpayers. Although there is research on the millennial generation and homelessness in NYC, more research is needed on the experiences of single, millennial adults who stay in shelters for extended periods of time. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to explore the experiences of 4 long-term-stay millennials, 25 to 34 years of age, …

African American College Students’ Attitudes Toward Help Seeking For Mental Health Illness, Sylvia Krow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research has shown that African Americans are less likely to seek treatment for mental health illness compared to individuals in other ethnic groups. Research has also revealed that African American college students’ attitudes, perceptions, and stigmas against mental illness impacts their willingness to seek treatment for mental illness. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational study was to investigate the predictive relationships between ethnic identity, perceptions of mental illness, stigma and attitudes toward seeking professional help for mental illness among African American college students attending Historically Black colleges and universities. The research question addressed the predictive relationships between ethnic …

Examining Barriers Impacting Women’S Promotion Into C-Suite Positions In Higher Education, Lynette Johnson Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Department of Labor indicated that women represent 46.8% and men represent 53.2% of the United States’ 16 years and older civilian labor force. An estimated 52% of adult women compared to 48% of men participating in the civilian labor force held a bachelor’s degree or higher, and women represented 47% of the management and professional sector’s positions. Women occupy 25% of C-suite positions in the Standard & Poor 500 companies. In higher education, 30% of college presidents are women. Women continue to face several barriers as they try to move into senior executive leadership positions. The specific …