This dissertation reports a multimethod investigation of the relationship between market price knowledge and the width of the acceptable price range. Psychophysics and Social judgment theory are discussed as supporting the existence of acceptable price thresholds (limits) and acceptable price range. Hypotheses stemming from Social judgment theory are offered directly relating market price knowledge with the width of the acceptable price range. The relationship between market price knowledge and acceptable price range was investigated using two different methods, the Stoetzel and the Own-Category method. Unlike the previous acceptable price limit studies, this research assessed the reliability and construct validity of each of those methods. The research design used was a laboratory experiment with a series of 2 x 2 factorials based on the Solomon 4 group-six study design. The dependent variables were: (1) the acceptable lower price limit, (2) the acceptable upper price limit, and (3) the acceptable price range. The independent variable was market price knowledge. The two-way anova design had two factors. The first factor had two levels: absence and presence of market price knowledge. The second factor consisted of two levels: pretest and no pretest treatments. The research hypothesis was tested using (1) two-way analysis of variance, (2) analysis of covariance using sex and prior price knowledge as covariates, and (3) paired t-tests. Test-retest reliability of the two methods were assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Pearson correlation coefficients were also used to set validity coefficients. Those coefficients were used to assess construct validity of the two measures in terms of convergent and discriminant validity within the context of Campbell and Fiske's multitrait-multimethod zero-order correlation matrix. In general, the experimental results partially confirmed the hypothesis that the acceptable price range would be narrower for subjects possessing market price knowledge than for those subjects possessing little or no market price knowledge. The results of the Stoetzel method supported the hypothesis, but the hypothesis was not supported when the same subjects used the OwnCa Category method. The results did support the hypothesis that the two methods were valid measures of ac~eptable price thresholds with the OwnCa Category method producing higher reliability scores than the Stoetzel method. Results of the dissertation are discussed with respect to the major findings and significance to price theory and research. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the study limitations and directions for future research. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to construct and test a model of the influences affecting teachers' job satisfaction. To test the model, a representative sample (N = 512) of early-career (those with less than seven years teaching experience) public school teachers in the Commonwealth of Virginia was used. The path model proposed is a set of structural equations that consider the job satisfaction of a teacher to be a function of four exogenous variables--the teacher's sex, age, years of teaching experience, and socioeconomic status of family of origin--and three endogenous variables--the teacher' s scholastic achievement, the school climate where the teacher is employed, and the teacher's commitment to staying in teaching. Because of possible interactions caused by differing parameters between blacks and whites, the model was analyzed separately for white teachers and for black teachers. Results of the LISREL analyses indicated that teachers' perceptions of the school climate where they are employed and teachers' commitment to staying in teaching were the two most important influences on teacher job satisfaction. For white teachers, females tended to be more committed to teaching than did their male counterparts. For the black teachers, no such distinction was evident. Also, white females tended to be more satisfied than the white males; black females tended to be less satisfied than the black males. Perhaps most importantly, the lower achieving whites tended to be more satisfied in their teaching positions than did higher achieving whites. For blacks, no differences in the effects of achievement level were noted. These differences illustrate that the process leading to teacher job satisfaction is similar for whites and blacks, but there are critical differences within the model itself in how the variables interact with one another. Recommendations for future research include further work with broader based populations of teachers as well as follow-up with teachers now under study. A look at politically feasible ways to improve the "quality of life" for teachers is also encouraged. / Ph. D.

This research examines the extent to which user needs are affected by differences in the size and ownership characteristics of reporting entities. Bank loan officers constitute the target group of financial statement users and the study focuses on the perceived need for sixteen financial statement items. Among these are twelve items for which differentiation in financial reporting has been proposed (key items), and four items that bankers generally require when evaluating a loan application (control items) . The research model is based on the hypothesis that perceptions of accounting information are affected by the decision context, complexity of the organization in which the decision is being made, and the behavior response repertoire of the user. A quasi-experimental design with two treatments is utilized. The treatments are (1) a commercial loan decision involving a small privately held corporation, and (2) a commercial loan decision involving a large public corporation. A questionnaire was mailed to gather the data. Three hundred and fifteen usable responses were received, for a response rate of 21%. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and canonical correlation analysis. Differences in the size and ownership characteristics of commercial loan applicants were found to have a statistically significant impact on the perceived needs of bankers for financial statement information. This relationship is most observable among disclosures that are perceived to be of lesser importance in the loan evaluation process. The perceived needs for items that are considered to be of greater importance (for example, the control items) are relatively insensitive to variations in the size and ownership characteristics of commercial loan applicants. Overall, commercial loan officers tend to perceive a relatively high need for general financial statement items, but tend to downplay the importance of the more specific and detailed items. The results also indicate that the organizational complexity of a bank, and the degree to which its commercial loan officers are committed to the work ethic of the banking profession, are significantly related to the perceived need for financial statement disclosures. / Ph. D.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is presently considering a proposal to revise the enforcement system of the Code of Professional Ethics from the current complaint-based mechanism to a system based on reviews of practitioners and their work. Inherent within the proposal is the conclusion that the existing enforcement provisions, based on complaints about violations, are not adequate. Complaints about ethics violations can originate from practically anyone although two of the primary initiators of violation complaints are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and their clients. CPAs, however, may have limited opportunities to observe violations committed by colleagues. Clients, on the other hand, may be in a prime position to detect departures from the ethics code but may have no incentive to report violations committed by their CPAs; e.g., a violation may benefit the client. A survey of these two groups (CPAs and clients) indicated that while both groups are familiar with the code and believe that the rules of conduct are appropriate, clients do not tend to report violations and CPAs, on average, indicated that they would report observed violations slightly more than one-half the time. These findings suggest that an enforcement system based solely on the complaints of CPAs and clients cannot be effective. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to build upon a conceptual model of the alcoholic family system. The variables investigated were: differentiation of self, as represented by quantity and quality of involvement with family of origin; and nuclear family structure, as represented by hierarchy and primary coalition types. These variables were chosen in order to provide some theoretical understanding of how alcoholism is both maintained and transmitted by family systems. Forty-two families in which the father was an alcoholic took part in this study. Both the alcoholics and their spouses completed an abbreviated form of the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-Q), the Family of Origin Involvement Questionnaire, and the Madanes Family Hierarchy Test. At least one child from each family also completed the Madanes Family Hierarchy Test. Chi-square test results indicated that these families reported significant amounts of hierarchy reversal, nonmarital primacy, and nonaverage contact with family of origin. When compared to norm group scores on the PAFS-Q, alcoholic subjects and their spouses indicated more nuclear family triangulation, intergenerational fusion, and intergenerational triangulation. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation results indicated that nuclear family triangulation was related to intergenerational fusion, presence of hierarchy reversal, and nonmarital primacy. For alcoholics only, more time spent recovering, more contact with parents, nonmarital primacy, and more intergenerational triangulation were related. These study results were interpreted as supporting a developmental model for the maintenance and transmission of alcoholism in the family. Clinical implications include the necessity of doing family of origin work with alcoholic families as well as the importance of including as many members as are willing in family therapy. / Ph. D.

Erwinia carotovora subsp. Carotovora (Ecc) and Erwinia carotovora subsp. Atroseptica (Eca) are plant pathogenic bacteria that cause soft rot disease of many plant species and blackleg disease of potatoes, respectively. Ecc and Eca attack plants by means of a group of extracellular plant tissue-degrading enzymes. which rapidly breaks down the pectic polymers that form a structurally important part of the plant cell wall, is considered central to soft rot pathogenesis. In this work, I isolated and studied the genes encoding this enzyme from Ecc and Eca. A clone library of Ecc strain EC14 was constructed using cosmid PLAFR3. This library contains 2,200 clones with an average insert size of 27 kilobases of DNA and included a proteolytic clone, five cellulolytic clones, and ten pectolytic clones. The proteolytic clone was used to complement a Tn5-induced protease mutant of Ecc; the complemented mutant was restored to near-wild type phenotype. Six of the pectolytic clones hybridized to a probe from a. previously isolated extracellular endo-pectate-pectate lyase gene from Ecc; one pectolytic clone had homology to a previously isolated clone encoding endo-polygalacturonase: three clones showed no relationship to either of the previously characterized Ecc pectolytic enzyme genes. A clone encoding the major endo-pectate lyase gene from Ecc was chosen for subcloning and further study. I used the plasmid vector pBR322 to construct a clone bank of Eca strain SRB; of the 1700 clones screened, five were pectolytic. Two of the Eca pectolytic. clones had homology to the Ecc endo-pectate lyase gene; upon examination, they proved to contain the same insert in opposite orientations. The Ecc endo-pectate lyase had a pI of 9. 5 and a molecular weight of 33,000; the analogous Eca endo-pectate lyase had a pI of 9.2 and a molecular weight of 31,000. Both enzymes required a divalent cation for activity (preferring Ca2+ over Mg2+ over Mn²⁺. The restriction endonuclease maps of the two clones did not have any tested sites in common. These differences suggest that although these two genes may have originated from a common ancestral gene, considerable divergence has taken place. I analyzed the fine structure of the Ecc endo-pectate lyase gene by DNA sequencing. The coding region of the gene is preceded by E. coli-type -10 and -35 sequences and encodes an unmodified protein of 281 amine acids. A typical secretion signal peptide is not present. / Ph. D.

Temperament of 4-month-old infants of diabetic (n=l6) and nondiabetic (n=l8) mothers did not differ reliably in terms of maternal ratings on the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) (Rothbart, 1981). Item analysis indicated that scales on a reduced version of the IBQ maintained high internal reliability. Discrete behaviors, adapted from the Infant Behavior Record (Bayley, 1969), and conceptually related to each scale of the IBQ, were observed by mothers and by a trained observer during the infants' well-child examinations. Group differences for activity level and duration of orienting were obtained by the trained observer. These differences were similar in pattern to those found by Yogman, Cole, Als, & Lester (1982) on newborn infants of diabetic mothers. Mothers' observations were reliably correlated with those of the trained observer on the following scales: (a) smiling and laughter, (b) fear, (c) distress to limitations, (d) soothability, and (e) duration of orienting. Mothers' observations were not reliably correlated with those of the observer on (f) activity level. The behavioral items were not significantly correlated with their respective scale on the IBQ. With subjects from both groups combined, neither gestational age nor ponderal index was related to temperament ratings or to discrete behaviors. Results failed to support the hypothesis that diabetic-related biobehavioral vulnerabilities and psychoendocrine mechanisms mediated temperament in 4-month-old infants. However, differences in discrete behaviors were present. Further studies are needed to determine whether differences of discrete behaviors affect later development. / M.S.

The basic resource of all solar systems is the sun, and a knowledge of the quantity of the energy available is of prime importance. Although the solar radiation outside the atmosphere is known and almost constant, various climatic factors cause wide variations in its value on the earth's surface. In addition, the relative position of the sun with respect to local points of interest will allow surfaces with different orientations and tracking ability to receive different quantities of solar energy. This research focuses on the effect of cloud cover on the solar radiation received on the earth's surface and presents computer models that calculate its value for the best system configuration. Then a complete assessment of the electrical output of such a system is given. With this purpose in mind, two solar resource evaluation models have been developed; the first method is based on a direct statistical approach correlating clear sky total daily radiation with measured daily insolation. This approach has been applied to a few selected sites and offers the procedure for extending the same coefficients to other sites with similar weather patterns. This model has been tested for six sites in Bangladesh . These sites are located around a "reference" site . The predictions made have shown to be quite accurate. The second model uses an analytical approach that combines clear sky methods with "correction" factors which are based on long term recorded solar ra- diation. In addition, this model has been enhanced by an algorithm that selects the optimal surface orientation that maximizes solar output. Finally, the hourly electrical output of the photovoltaic system is calculated after accounting for the various losses. This is presented as part of a complete solar energy evaluation model. / M.S.

Fear of crime is as much a reality as crime itself. Our reactions to the problem of crime may influence or interfere with our day-to-day activities. Yet not everyone is a victim of crime, nor does everyone perceive crime as being a serious problem. The author tests hypotheses about the relationships between the fear of crime and, (1) prior victimization, (2) perceived seriousness of crimes and (3) size of the community (population size); suggesting that all of these relationships will be positive--the higher the score for these three variables the higher the score for fear. Also, it was hypothesized that these relationships would be greater (a) for women than for men, and (b) for personal crimes than for property crimes.The survey was sent to a sample of registered motor vehicle owners in the state of Virginia; a sample of 952 was used in this study. All of the relationships were positive. Only two of the sub-hypotheses were supported: that the relationship between perceived seriousness and fear of crime was greater for women than for men, and that the relationship between population size and fear of crime was greater for women than for men. Implications of the results and the limitations of the study are discussed. Suggestions are made for future research. / M.S.

Although leaf movements have been documented for over a century, there are few studies focused on the adaptive significance of leaf movements, especially with experiments under controlled conditions. The major objective in this study is to determine the ecological significance of leaf movements in Rhododendron maximum, which is a subcanopy, evergreen species distributed in seasonally cold environments. Leaf movements could be necessary for maintaining a favorable energy balance and/or avoiding photoinhibition and photooxidation. A series of leaf manipulation treatments were established to verify these potential explanations. These leaf treatments were designed to separate the influence of leaf curling and leaf angle on leaf energy budget, gas-exchange characteristics, chlorophyll contents and leaf longevity. Leaf movements were found to have a significant influence on leaf physiology and longevity of R. maximum. Without changes in leaf angle, chlorophyll contents decreased, and permanent photoinhibition occurred due to excess irradiance absorption in the winter. Leaf angle also influenced leaf temperature although the changes in leaf temperature were within the physiological tolerances of R. maximum leaves. Leaf curing had little or no effect on the parameters measured in the study. / M.S.