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Sex and Gender Differences in Perceived and Actual Leadership Performance: Self- and Subordinate Views

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine how male and female leaders view their own effectiveness as compared to their objective performance. This study also examined sex and gender differences in subordinate's views of male and female leaders. Forty-two mixed-sex groups led by appointed male and female leaders were observed to assess objective and perceived leader effectiveness. Gender role of participants was assessed using the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). No sex or gender differences were found in objective leadership effectiveness. An unexpected finding was that male and female leaders perceived themselves accurately as leaders. Significant differences were found in the way male subordinates rated men and women leaders when taking into account gender role. Results indicated that the study of gender bias in leadership is complex and should be examined in conjunction with gender role. Social role theory helps to explain this bias.
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Date: May 2003
Creator: Rivero, Arlene Jean
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Production Effects of Protectionist Announcements: An Examination of the Steel Industry

Description: The well-being of the American steel industry is vital to the overall health of the United States (U.S.) economy. This belief is, in part, the impetus for the enactment of protective tariffs and quotas. This paper examines the impact of the announcement of the 2001 tariffs. Numerous forces have buffeted the U.S. steel industry over the last decade. Domestic steel firms operate in a highly global, fiercely competitive, and capital-intensive industry. This environment has proven inhospitable to the U.S. steel industry, widely criticized for inefficiency and overcapacity. A regression analysis finds that the announcement of the 2001 tariffs had no statistically significant impact on U.S. domestic raw steel production. Supporting theories are reexamined, and the implications of this finding for trade policy are explored.
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Date: May 2003
Creator: Pharr, Matthew C.
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The Effects of Alternative Contingencies on Instruction Following.

Description: The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of alternative contingencies on instruction following by an ABA design. Three college students consistently pressed keys 1-5-3 and 4-8-6 in the presence of the written instruction "Press 153" or "Press 486." During condition A, the contingencies for following and not following the instruction were the same: CON FR5 FR5 and CON FR20 FR20. During condition B, the contingencies for following and not following the instruction were different: CON FR20 FR5. For one participant, the schedule of reinforcement was then changed to FR30. The results showed that subjects followed instructions when the schedule of reinforcement was the same for instruction following and not following.
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Date: May 2003
Creator: Patti, Nicole
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open access

Faculty Attitudes Toward Residential and Distance Learning: A Case Study in Instructional Mode Preferences Among Theological Seminary Faculty

Description: Twenty-first century learners have bought into a cafeteria-style mentality for obtaining higher education that learning should be available at the student's convenience. Institutions that ignore this postmodern trend will likely find their applicant pools dwindling along with significant reductions in entering class sizes. Students will simply choose other schools able to provide respected, accredited, and useful learning which fits their busy lifestyles. Since 1987, Dallas Theological Seminary (Texas), a 76-year-old graduate school of theology in the conservative, evangelical, free-church movement, has offered distance learning classes in both extension and print-based delivery models. Because the faculty plays a pivotal role in the successful or unsuccessful implementation of online courses (McKenzie, Mims, Bennett, & Waugh, 2000), the present study uncovered the attitudes of full-time, graduate theological faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) regarding distance learning and the likelihood of faculty to adopt this delivery innovation. Bruce Manning's (1976) Trouble-Shooting Checklist (TSC) for Higher Education Institutions was the instrument used in the study. The TSC is a nonparametric test designed to uncover differences between the observed and expected levels of acceptance that a department, program, or institution possesses regarding change toward distance learning in contrast to residential learning. The checklist's two major purposes are to provide an overall norm-referenced, predictive score estimating the organization's likelihood of adopting and implementing an innovation and to profile the strengths and weaknesses of an organization's environment (culture) relative to the adoption and implementation of innovations. Five scales provide a comprehensive understanding of the organizational climate, personality and leadership characteristics of participants, communication pathways within the organization, the degree of sophistication or expertise within the organization, and the receptivity of the students. An official administration of the instrument was conducted involving all full-time faculty at DTS. Frequency counts, percentage distributions, and the chi-square goodness-of-fit statistic were used to …
Date: May 2003
Creator: Scott, Benjamin G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Increasing the Dynamic Range of Audio THD Measurements Using a Novel Noise and Distortion Canceling Methodology

Description: The objective of this study was to determine how a new experimental methodology for measuring Total-Harmonic-Distortion (THD) of operational amplifiers functioned when compared with two standard methodologies, and whether the new methodology offers any improvement in noise floor and dynamic range along with distortion canceling of the sine-wave source used in the testing. The new methodology (THD) is being tested against two standard methodologies: Spectral Analysis using a tuned receiver type Spectrum Analyzer with Notch Filter pre-processing, and a digitized Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) using Notch Filter pre-processing. The THD results appear to agree across all methodologies, and across all items of the sample within all methodologies, to within a percent or less. The distortion and noise canceling feature of the new methodology appeared to function as expected and in accordance with theory. The sample tested in the study consisted of thirty-five NE5534 operational amplifiers produced by Texas Instruments, Inc. and purchased from a local store. The NE5534 is a low-noise, low-distortion, operational amplifier that is widely used in industry and is representative of today's best audio amplifiers.
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Date: May 2003
Creator: Dunipace, Richard Alan
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The Concept of Dignity in the Early Science Fiction Novels of Kurt Vonnegut.

Description: Kurt Vonnegut's early science fiction novels depict societies and characters that, as in the real world, have become callous and downtrodden. These works use supercomputers, aliens, and space travel, often in a comical manner, to demonstrate that the future, unless people change their concepts of humanity, will not be the paradise of advanced technology and human harmony that some may expect. In fact, Vonnegut suggests that the human condition may gradually worsen if people continue to look further and further into the universe for happiness and purpose. To Vonnegut, the key to happiness is dignity, and this key is to be found within ourselves, not without.
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Date: May 2003
Creator: Dye, Scott Allen
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open access

An 8-Step Program: Shaping and Fixed-Time Food Delivery Effects on Several Approximations and Undesired Responses in Goats.

Description: This study investigated the effects of a shaping program for halter training across 8 steps in the program and 4 trial-terminating, or "undesirable," responses. Three La Mancha goats (Capra hircus) located at the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, Texas were used for the study. A fixed-time 15 s (FT-15 s) was used during the baseline conditions, to examine the effects of response contingent and response-independent food deliveries, as well as to examine what preliminary steps might not necessarily have to be shaped. All 3 goats successfully learned to allow the halter to be placed on them and to lead on the halter, although 2 of the 3 goats required an additional task analysis for the fifth step to further break down that approximation. Several of the early steps selected by the researchers were not necessary to complete the program, as determined by the baseline condition.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Fernandez, Eduardo J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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open access

Benchmark-based Page Replacement (BBPR) Strategy: A New Web Cache Page Replacement Strategy

Description: World Wide Web caching is widely used through today's Internet. When correctly deployed, Web caching systems can lead to significant bandwidth savings, network load reduction, server load balancing, and higher content availability. A document replacement algorithm that can lower retrieval latency and yield high hit ratio is the key to the effectiveness of proxy caches. More than twenty cache algorithms have been employed in academic studies and in corporate communities as well. But there are some drawbacks in the existing replacement algorithms. To overcome these shortcomings, we developed a new page replacement strategy named as Benchmark-Based Page Replacement (BBPR) strategy, in which a HTTP benchmark is used as a tool to evaluate the current network load and the server load. By our simulation model, the BBPR strategy shows better performance than the LRU (Least Recently Used) method, which is the most commonly used algorithm. The tradeoff is a reduced hit ratio. Slow pages benefit from BBPR.
Date: May 2003
Creator: He, Wei
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open access

Voyeurism and Fetishism

Description: This problem in lieu of thesis concerns voyeurism and fetishism and how they relate to art. It addresses at voyeurism from both sides of the gaze. It describes a body of work that was created to explore the relationship between the voyeur and the fetish object and the viewer and the art object.
Date: May 2003
Creator: De Anda, Veronica
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open access

The Effects of Monitoring and Incompatible Contingencies on Say/Do Correspondence.

Description: This study investigated effects of monitoring on correspondence between nonverbal responding and verbal descriptions of those contingencies, when verbal descriptions and contingencies were compatible and when incompatible. In the Nonverbal Component, the contingency for key pressing was either on a 0.8 s IRT or a 3.4 s IRT. In the Verbal Component, subjects made responses to a statement about the contingency for reinforcement in the Nonverbal Component. Shaping was used to establish targets of 0.8 s and 3.4 s in this component. Results indicated that across 7/8 opportunities subjects exhibited nonverbal and verbal behavior that was sensitive to their respective contingencies regardless of compatibility. This sensitivity to contingencies was not affected by the presence of a monitor.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Crye, Amy Arthur
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open access

Pop Baroque

Description: My objective was to make a body of work that used baroque sensibilities with my own connections to popular culture. A series of mixed media works and one installation were created that infused baroque motifs with present popular design. My interpretation of the presence of the Baroque was expanded by using vivid colors, textures, patterns and designs collected from my environment during an investigation of the theatrical fantasies of popular culture. I expected to make work that could be approached conceptually from different angles, while being seductive on the surface.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Gassiraro, Jennifer
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open access

Acculturative Processes and Their Impact on Self-Reports of Psychological Distress in Mexican-American Adolescents

Description: The current study examined the effects of acculturative processes on the self-report of behavioral problems in Hispanic children ages 11-14. Acculturation was measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) (ã Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, www.sagepub.com) (Cuellar, Arnold, and Maldonado, 1995) and the self-report of behavioral symptoms was assessed using the Youth Self-Report (ã T.M. Achenbach, Burlington, VT, www.aseba.com) (Achenbach, 1991). It was hypothesized that while both the linear and orthogonal categories of acculturation would account for a significant proportion of the variance in behavior problems in this age group, the orthogonal model would account for a larger proportion of variance due to its multidimensional nature. As well, it was hypothesized that the experimental Marginalization scales of the ARSMA-II would be predictive of behavioral problems. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test these hypotheses and results were non-significant for the linear, orthogonal, and marginalization categories. The effects of the ethnic/cultural homogeneity of the region from which the sample was drawn, the buffering of social support, and the developmental aspects of ethnic identity are discussed as factors which may have influenced the potential impact of acculturative stress on psychological and behavioral functioning.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Garrison, Lance A.
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open access

A Case Study of Characteristics and Means of Person-to-Person Influence in American Kodály Music Education: Katinka Scipiades Dániel

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and means of Katinka Dániel's interpersonal influences through the perceptions of 20 selected students, protégés, and colleagues, and to study the behavioral and attitudinal changes they attributed to her influence. A case study design and structured interview questionnaire were used to study four variables coming from the social sciences' literature on influence: legitimate authority, attractiveness, expert authority, and trustworthiness. Responses were qualitatively analyzed to determine the role those variables played in Dániel's interpersonal influence. All interviewees were music teachers who used the Kodály method in their teaching and have studied or worked with Dániel. Two images of Dániel emerged from the interviews. The first, a business-like image, emanated from Dániel's work in the classroom, and the second, a maternal image, came from personal relationships with her students and associates. Attractiveness (defined as a willingness to respond positively to the requests of an influential person because one respects that individual and wants to obtain that person's approval) proved to be the principal characteristic of influence, followed by legitimate authority, then expertise. Trustworthiness played a lesser role. The greatest effect of Dániel's influence was on the interviewees' teaching. Among the factors interviewees described as influential were her expectation they would succeed, her position as role model, praise and encouragement, and gestures of generosity and concern. Interviewees were not in agreement as to whether she used persuasion or coercion. Direct verbal communication served a principal role in Dániel's influence, and though her criticism was described as forthright and bluntly honest, interviewees often accepted it. This was because most believed she was focused on their best interest, because her motives were not considered self-serving, and because they saw the reasons for her criticism as stemming from her high ideals and the desire to see …
Date: May 2003
Creator: Ferrell, Janice René
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open access

Robert Schumann's Symphony in D Minor, Op. 120: A Critical Study of Interpretation in the Nineteenth-Century German Symphony

Description: Robert Schumann's D-minor Symphony endured harsh criticism during the second half of the nineteenth century because of misunderstandings regarding his compositional approach to the genre of the symphony; changes in performance practices amplified the problems, leading to charges that Schumann was an inept orchestrator. Editions published by Clara Schumann and Alfred Dörffel as well as performing editions prepared by Woldemar Bargiel and Gustav Mahler reflect ideals of the late nineteenth century that differ markedly from those Schumann advanced in his 1851 autograph and in the Symphony's first publication in 1853. An examination of the manuscript sources and the editions authorized by Schumann reveals that he imbued the Symphony with what he called a "special meaning" in the form of an implied narrative. Although Schumann provided no written account of this narrative, it is revealed in orchestrational devices, particularly orchestration, dynamics, and articulation, many of which have been either altered or suppressed by later editors. A reconsideration of these devices as they are transmitted through the authorized sources permits a rediscovery of the work's special meaning and rectifies long-standing misperceptions that have become entrenched in the general literature concerning Schumann in general and the D-minor Symphony in particular.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Hellner, Jean Marie
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open access

"Time for Teletubbies": Childhood, Child Participation, and the Struggle for Meaning

Description: The children's television program Teletubbies and its concomitant controversies are analyzed along with the media attention surrounding the program. A textual analysis is presented, including the methodologies of narrative theory, semiotics/structuralism, and poststructuralism. The context is also analyzed, using a cultural studies and historical reception approach, in order to chronicle and analyze the show's controversies and elucidate how these arguments have affected reception and interpretation of the show. Following textual and contextual analysis, a social science approach is utilized, reviewing literature and research that supports or refutes the arguments at hand. Finally, the results of a qualitative, ethnographical study are presented in order to include the child's perspectives on the show and inform the larger, cultural issues of childhood.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Cowart, Agatha
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open access

Precision measurements of the hyperfine structure in the 23P state of 3He.

Description: The unusually large hyperfine structure splittings in the 23P state of the 3He isotope is measured using electro-optic techniques with high precision laser spectroscopy. Originally designed to probe the fine structure of the 4He atom, this experimental setup along with special modifications I implemented to resolve certain 3He related issues has made possible new high precision hyperfine structure measurements. Discussed are the details of the experimental setup and the modifications, including in depth information necessary to consider while performing these measurements. The results of these hyperfine structure measurements give an order of magnitude improvement in precision over the best previously reported values.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Smiciklas, Marc
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open access

Writing Proficiency Among Graduate Students in Higher Education Programs

Description: This study explored the extent to which graduate students enrolled in Higher Education courses were proficient at writing. While writing proficiency has been extensively studied in elementary students, high school students, and undergraduates, little attention has been paid to formally evaluating graduate student proficiency. Despite the relatively new idea of assessing graduate student writing, it is a concern for graduate faculty and a valid area for study. This study was based on a sample of graduate students enrolled in at least one course in Higher Education at public institutions of higher education in the United States. A total sample size of 97 students was obtained. Two instruments were administered to the participants: A General Information and Writing Experience Questionnaire (G-WEQ) and the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B. The G-WEQ was designed to capture demographic information about the participants, as well as allow participants to provide a self-assessment of writing and describe the writing experiences they are currently encountering in graduate school. To assess writing proficiency for the participants, the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B was used. The purpose of the test is to "measure [test takers'] ability to...recognize faults in usage and structure, and to use language with sensitivity to meaning" (Educational Testing Service, 1999-2000, p.7). The z-Statistic for a Single Sample Mean significance test was used to determine whether the sample mean scored significantly higher than the population mean on the SAT II: Writing Test. This was not the case (z=0.295, p<0.38). The graduate students in this sample did not score significantly higher on the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B than the typical high school senior whose scores enter into the norm group.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Singleton-Jackson, Jill A.
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open access

The Domestic Politics of Entering International Communities: An Exploratory Analysis

Description: In the last thirty years, there has been a significant increase in the globalization process, or as other refer to it, the internationalization, free trade, or liberalization. This trend was reflected in the increasing number of newly formed international organization (economic and security) as well as in the increased membership in the already existing ones. The evidence of this trend has been particularly visible since the end of the Cold War, when the race of the Eastern European countries to enter international organizations has been as competitive as ever. Nonetheless, a number of countries, upon careful evaluation and consideration of membership, has opted out of the opportunity to enter such international agreements. The question that this paper addresses is how do countries decided whether to enter or not international organizations? In other words, what elements, processes, and motives lie behind the decision of countries to commit to a new membership? Most of the studies that have addressed this topic have done so from an international perspective as they addressed the politics between countries, as well as the costs and benefits in terms of power, sovereignty, and national income once in the organizations. This paper, on the other hand, approaches the issue from a comparative perspective, both economic and political. It attempts to answer the research question by looking at the domestic sources of decision -making and how they influence this decision. Namely, a decision to become more open to trade has several implications for a country, depending on its size, and already established trade openness, among other factors. The impact of increased openness will most seriously affect the domestic players, both negatively and positively. Thus, in considering the impact that the policy could have on their welfare, players align their interests in order to express their preferences on the issue …
Date: May 2003
Creator: Radin, Dagmar
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open access

DICOM Image Scrubbing Software Library/Utility

Description: This software is aimed at providing user-friendly, easy-to-use environment for the user to scrub (de-identify/modify) the DICOM header information. Some tools either anonymize or default the values without the user interaction. The user doesn't have the flexibility to edit the header information. One cannot scrub set of images simultaneously (batch scrubbing). This motivated to develop a tool/utility that can scrub a set of images in a single step more efficiently. This document also addresses security issues of the patient confidentiality to achieve protection of patient identifying information and some technical requirements
Date: May 2003
Creator: Ponnam, Bhavani Srikanth
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open access

Participant's perceptions of online staff development and learning tools.

Description: This study analyzed participants in an online professional development and certification program can to see if they could predict the learning value of individual distance education tools. The Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET) funded by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) designed the Technology Applications Certification Program (TACP). In the TACP, students are offered four graduate level classes which, when combined, meet the standards for the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) Technology Applications certification. The four courses that comprise the TACP are Computers in Education, Introduction to the Internet, Multimedia in Technology Applications, and Introduction to Video Technologies. The first course started in January 2002 with approximately 706 participants in 40 cohorts across the state of Texas. The TACP combines two different worlds of technology training. Half of the coursework was completed through asynchronous content and discussions, while the remaining classes were hands-on classes in local district computer labs. These face-to-face meetings enabled learners to get hands-on training with direct assistance. Between the online and face-to-face segments, a variety of learning tools were introduced to the participants. Participants were surveyed through the online Snapshot Survey in January and again in September.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Smolka, Jennifer
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open access

User Modeling Tools for Virtual Architecture

Description: As the use of virtual environments (VEs) is becoming more widespread, user needs are becoming a more significant part in those environments. In order to adapt to the needs of the user, a system should be able to infer user interests and goals. I developed an architecture for user modeling to understand users' interests in a VE by monitoring their actions. In this paper, I discussed the architecture and the virtual environment that was created to test it. This architecture employs sensors to keep track of all the users' actions, data structures that can store a record of significant events that have occurred in the environment, and a rule base. The rule base continually monitors the data collected from the sensors, world state, and event history in order to update the user goal inferences. These inferences can then be used to modify the flow of events within a VE.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Uppuluri, Raja
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