Over the years, citizens' trust and confidence in their governments has continued to decline and digital government is expected to reverse this trend. An enormous amount of money has been spent, worldwide, on electronic government initiatives that are focused on improving performance, reducing costs and enhancing citizens' trust and confidence in their governments. Yet, of the many initiatives that have been implemented, very few have achieved real transformation of government (i.e. fundamental changes to the way core functions of government are performed to achieve noticeable gains in performance and efficiency). As such, there is a need to understand how transformation of government as a construct affects citizens' trust and confidence in government in the presence of factors such as, government performance and citizen satisfaction. This research empirically investigates the influence of digital transformation of government on citizens' trust and confidence in the context of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is a top ranking country in terms of use of ICT in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. A conceptual model was developed and validated using an online survey targeting randomly citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Based on 313 responses, the findings of this research suggest that citizens' trust and confidence in their government is positively influenced by transformation of government, mediated by government performance and citizens' satisfaction. The study found that e-government and technology are not enough for achieving a real transformation of government, and therefore, in tackling the decline in citizens' trust and confidence in government. Other factors were found to be important in this equation, including transparency and accountability of government functions and activities in meeting citizens' expectations. The research offers multiple policy implications and theoretical contributions, in addition to helping understand how digital transformation of government can enhance citizens' trust and confidence in government, improve government-to-citizen relationship, and increase the adoption of digital services offered by governments. From a policy perspective, this research offers a validated conceptual model that can be used as a frame of reference when planning ICT-enabled transformation projects in government. From a theoretical context, this study is the first to investigate the relationship between transformation of government and citizens' trust and confidence in government.

PURPOSE: The fulfillment of patients’ expectations is an essential factor in their satisfaction with outcomes of their surgery. It is therefore necessary to assess whether patients have realistic expectations of the likely effects of the prospective surgery on their symptoms and function. Comparison of the clinical outcomes anticipated by the patients and their surgeons provides important initial information in studying the formation of patients’ expectations. This study examined the level of agreement in the preoperative expectations of patients with DDH and their surgeons of the PAO surgery. METHODS: Two surgeons and their combined 72 patients preoperatively completed 4-point Likert-scales rating their realistic expectations of improvement (“not improved at all” to “greatly improved”) in six domains representing different hip symptoms after surgery. Domains included pain, stiffness, locking, stability, walking ability and athletic ability. Concordance between patient and surgeon expectation was evaluated by the percent of exact and partial (within one rating) agreement as well as Kappa coefficients. RESULTS: Exact agreement between patients and surgeons ranged from 17.4% (Stiffness) to 54.2% (Pain). Partial agreement between patients and surgeons ranged from 46.4% (Stiffness) to 100% (Pain). Agreement was consistently lowest regarding expected hip stiffness and highest regarding expected pain following surgery. Weighted Kappa estimates were low ranging from 0.07 to 0.45. In instances of disagreement, patients consistently had higher expectations than the surgeon especially with respect to stiffness, walking ability and locking/catching of the hip. CONCLUSIONS: There was discrepancy between patients and surgeons in their preoperative expectations of outcomes of the PAO, with most patients being more optimistic than their surgeons in every domain. In the domains of hip stiffness, locking, and walking ability, there was frequent discrepancy between patient and surgeon expectations. But for the pain domain, patients and surgeons were close in their expectations. Our findings highlight differences in perspectives between patients and surgeons regarding the effectiveness of the PAO in improving various hip symptoms and function.

The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of the decision making process among secondary school leaders as they engage in an academic file review in order to make decisions regarding academic placement of a newly enrolled student. During a semi-structured interview, secondary school principals were asked to engage in a document analysis using an authentic student profile and describe how they would determine the most appropriate academic program placement for the student. Authentic insights from the perspectives of secondary school principals defined experiences and factors that influence decision making processes. Through a semi-structured, open-ended interview with secondary school principals and a document analysis of a student comprehensive file, the researcher analyzed the responses and described the experiences of secondary school principals engaged in the academic planning process for a student. Findings and recommendations for practice are included.

This qualitative study explores the expectations and preceptions elementary teachers have of school counselors. Participants were current or past students in an elementary education graduate progrma at a southeastern university. The participants responded to an open-endd online survey that consisted of questions that focused on the demographics of their schools and the expectations and perceptions they had of the school counselor's roles and responsibilities pertaining to both academic achievement and student behavior. Although responses varied, the data suggests that there was substatntial concern regarding the time and availability of the school counselor, implications of the use of counselors as school standardized testing administrators, and respondents' desires for school counselors to focus on the severe emotional and behavioral needs of students.

Research casts interracial romantic partners (IRPs) as deficient in their relational functioning compared to same-race partners due to the potential for increased relational conflict and stress. More relational stressors are likely to result in a higher need for social support from network members. Yet, interracial partners can maintain satisfying, thriving relationships and experience few racially motivated stressors, rendering support unnecessary at times. The dissertation explores the social resources IRPs use to maintain their interracial romantic relationships (IRRs) by examining processes of social support and strain among Black-White IRPs and their family members. In these processes, the researcher focuses specifically on support expectations, which are anticipations of the support individuals are likely to receive from particular others. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 32 IRPs and 30 parents of IRPs to understand support as a cohesive, long-term process involving participants’ support expectations and their violations, which could result in experiences of support and/or strain. A grounded theory analysis of the interview data resulted in an inductive model of expectations for social support and strain. Three constructs influenced expectations for IRR involvement and support, including exposure to racial diversity, assessments of racial identifications, and cultural comparisons. Based on these expectations, participants came across three support paths after initiating support-seeking disclosure strategies. Their expectations for familial support were met, they received more support than they anticipated, and/or they received less support than expected. Encounters with these support paths resulted in support and strain for IRPs and their parents, however interracial partnerships largely experienced resilience whereas hardships befell familial ties. Taken together, the results contribute to theorizing about processes of support and their functionality in underrepresented romantic relationship forms.

This study was an effort to replicate and extend findings from our previous research, which suggested that the efficacy of tailored messages is influenced by high levels of content personalization within the message and by individuals trait expectancies about tailored interventions. We tested whether tailoring-related expectancies regarding smoking-cessation booklets could be altered via a brief expectancy-priming intervention, and whether this would enhance the impact of the cessation materials. A 2x2 factorial design crossed personalization level and expectancy priming on evaluation of the intervention content, readiness to quit smoking, cessation self-efficacy, cognitive processing, and progress towards quitting. Smokers (N = 205) were randomized to one of four cells in which they received a highly personalized (placebo tailored) or standard intervention. Participants in the priming conditions received a pre-intervention letter to enhance their expectations for either standard or tailored interventions. Post-priming expectancies were assessed 7-10 days later, and intervention booklets were subsequently mailed. Results demonstrated main effects of personalization on content evaluation, readiness to quit, cognitive processing, and behavioral progress towards quitting. That is, the personalized booklets were more efficacious than the standard booklets. A priming by personalization interaction on tailoring-related expectancies indicated that the expectancy manipulation was effective, and priming main effects were found for content evaluation, readiness to quit, and cognitive processing. Thus, enhancing smokers’ expectancies about their materials improved participants’ perceptions of the intervention and strengthened outcomes. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Performance-based funding is becoming the norm in higher education. High-impact practices like first-year seminars hold promise for improving some of the key metrics in the funding model, such as first-year retention rate and first-year institutional GPA. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of retention rate and institutional GPA between first-time-in-college (FTIC) students who completed a first-year seminar and those who did not. Additional data regarding pre-college experiences and expectations for college were investigated to gain insight into retention and academic success behaviors of FTIC students. Three years of data including institutional Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) scores, high school GPAs, enrollment data, and student grades were collected. Due to a significant difference in high school GPA between summer and fall admits, all analyses were conducted separately for each group. For both summer and fall admits, results from the chi-square tests of homogeneity and independent samples t tests indicated no significant difference in retention rates or mean institutional GPA between FTIC students who completed a first-year seminar and those who did not. Logistic and multiple linear regression tests were conducted to determine whether FTIC student retention and institutional GPA could be predicted by pre-college experience and expectations as measured by the BCSSE. For fall admits only, two of the nine BCSSE scales, expected academic perseverance and perceived academic preparation were significant predictors for retention. For predicting institutional GPA, summer and fall admits shared two significant predictors from the BCSSE: high school learning strategies and importance of campus environment. For fall admits only, there were three additional significant predicators: high school quantitative reasoning, expected collaborative learning, and perceived academic preparation. The results of this study may encourage higher education institutions to consider assessment of their own first-year seminars. The impact of a first-year seminar may be improved by developing curriculum that addresses the skills, experience, and expectations unique to each institution’s first-year students.

La presente investigación cualitativa describe las expectativas sobre la paternidad en hombres divorciados con hijos, quienes vivieron la ausencia de sus propios padres. Es un estudio fenomenológico a través de entrevistas semi-estructuradas a seis padres de 40 a 55 años, que se encuentran divorciados y no conviven con sus hijos en la actualidad. Los participantes pertenecen a un nivel socioeconómico medio-alto y se encuentran dentro de un proceso terapéutico. Además, el análisis temático que se realizó concluyó en cuatro ejes principales: a) Experiencias en la niñez b) Percepción de su propia paternidad c) Involucramiento en la crianza d) Expectativas sobre su paternidad. Los principales hallazgos demuestran que los participantes buscan ser padres presentes en la vida de sus hijos, con la finalidad de no repetir su propia historia. Así, existe en ellos un deseo por resignificar su pasado a través de acciones en el presente y poder reconstruir su concepción de familia. / The present qualitative research describes expectations about fatherhood in men divorced with children, who experienced the absence of their own parents. It is a phenomenological study through semi-structured interviews to six parents from 40 to 55 years old, who are divorced and do not live with their children at present. The participants belong to a medium-high socioeconomic level and are in a therapeutic process. In addition, the thematic analysis that was carried out concluded in four main axes: a) Experiences in childhood b) Perception of their own paternity c) Involvement in parenting d) Expectations about their fatherhood. The main findings show that participants seek to be present parents in the lives of their children, in order not to repeat their own story. Thus, there is a desire in them to resignify their past through actions at the present moment and to reconstruct their conception of family. / Tesis

In Australia, the employment destinations of new graduates are surveyed annually and descriptions of successful employment have become an indicator of quality within the higher education sector. The expectations that employers hold for graduate generic skills are of interest, therefore, to graduates and the institutions they attended. Communication and thinking are recognised widely as the most important generic skills, however the application of these skills will occur in the workplace where academic skills may not be totally appropriate. In addition, many graduates of Australian institutions; e.g., international students, are likely to be employed by foreign organisations. Therefore, not only is the workplace a very different environment to academia but graduates could be expected to satisfy the expectations of employers working in culturally different environments.This investigation describes the expectations participating Singaporean and Perth employers held for recently graduated business graduates with particular attention given to graduate communication and thinking. The exploratory research used interviews and surveys to assemble contextual descriptions of employer expectations. The interview data was used to construct a questionnaire that was administered across a larger sample of employers to see whether the surveys corroborated the interview findings. Contextual descriptions of the communication and thinking capabilities that the Singaporean and Perth employers expected recent business graduates to possess are provided by this study. Gaps between employer expectations and perceptions of graduate ability are discussed, together with useful graduate characteristics. During data analysis five themes were noted and they have been used to propose a model of employer expectations. Finally, seven recommendations for professional practitioners have been suggested ++ / and a list of employer concerns is provided.

This thesis explores the expectations that parents had of a particular Catholic secondary school for boys during the first half of the 1990s. By exploring in some detail the expectations of one group of parents whose children attended one particular Catholic secondary school in suburban Adelaide (South Australia), the research illuminates the larger issue of the changing nature of parent expectations of Catholic secondary schooling, and how these expectations were being shaped in the last decade of the twentieth century. The social, educational and ecclesial context within which Catholic secondary education operates has altered in the three decades following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The literature reviewed in this thesis indicates that parent expectations of Catholic secondary education in the 1990s were increasingly shaped by a complex variety of factors beyond traditional religious or denominational loyalty. The post-1973 organisational and administrative structures established for the delivery and development of Catholic schooling in Australia reset the centralisation/decentralisation balance. These changes in administrative centre of gravity have of themselves created a climate in which a greater range of parent expectations is evident. This research used an established questionnaire to gather data from parents about their expectations of the school as their sons entered the first year of secondary schooling. The same parents were then surveyed four years later to gauge the extent to which they believed the school had met their expectations. Exploratory analyses were conducted to investigate if there were significant statistical differences in parent expectations, or in parent perceptions of the school's meeting their expectations, that were due to different parent characteristics. In particular, the research investigated whether parent gender, religion, religious practice, level of education, or length of parent association with the school played a significant role in parent expectations. A further important research aim was to investigate the statistical properties of the research questionnaire, first used to explore parent expectations of Catholic secondary education in the early 1980s, and to suggest appropriate changes to the way in which the items and scales of the questionnaire were constructed. Eight of the nine scales of the research instrument, whether used in the first round of the survey (as the student entered Year 8, and parents were asked what their expectations were in anticipation of their child's Catholic secondary education) or the second round (as the student entered Year 12, and parents were asked to indicate the degree to which the school had met their expectations) were found to be reliable. The results from the research reported in this thesis indicate that the parents believed that the school in large measure met their expectations. The results also demonstrate that, for these parents, there was no significant relationship between their expectations of the school and the sample characteristics of parent religion, gender, or level of education. Only two parent characteristics were found to demonstrate a significant relationship with parent expectations as measured by the questionnaire scales: the frequency of parent religious practice (as measured by reported church attendance) and whether the parents had earlier enrolled their sons in the primary section of the school. A more finely-nuanced examination of the data indicated that parent religion and parent gender may indeed have an influence on parent expectations of the school, but that the influence of these parent characteristics on parent expectations of the school are mediated by the degree to which the parents practice their religion. This research appears to confirm that parent expectations of Catholic secondary schooling are not a simple function of parent religion. The research indicates that parents, whether Catholic or not, whether practising church goers or not, tend to share a reasonably coherent view of what a Catholic secondary education should include, and of what constitutes a