This study responds to the globally increasing rate of caesarean section, and specifically to the very high rate of elective caesarean section among Taiwanese mothers as evidence suggests that such elective caesareans pose potential health risks for mothers and babies. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a multi-component instrument based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to better understand Taiwanese pregnant women's decisions regarding their childbirth delivery options (spontaneous vaginal delivery or elective caesarean section). The study was a four-phased mixed method design. First, the TPB guided item development and instrument drafting. Second, pretesting and instrument refinement used cognitive interviewing with a small sample of Taiwanese pregnant women. Third, the instrument was administered to 310 such women to examine psychometric properties of the component scales. Fourth, the phase 3 instrument was re-administered to 30 women to estimate item stability. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were used to assess construct validity of the multi-item, multi-component measurement model with LISREL 9.1. Based on the TPB, the 52-item self-administered Childbirth Delivery Options Questionnaire (CDOQ) was developed to measure three components: intention regarding delivery options, attitudes toward delivery options, and perceptions of significant others' (partner, mother, and mother-in-law) feelings about delivery options. Respondents from phase two thought that the items on the CDOQ were easy to read and comprehend; they reported favorably on the wording and formatting. Preliminary item analysis revealed that the items referring to dangerousness of delivery options did not function as intended and were dropped because they did not differentiate between the two delivery options, leaving 36 items. Test-retest reliability indicated that responses to each item were positively correlated and those referring to spontaneous vaginal delivery were more stable than those referring to elective caesarean section. Corrected item-to-total correlations and expected change in Cronbach's alpha if item deleted revealed that four items might form a measure of general social norms associated with the Taiwanese culture. The Cronbach's alphas for the components of the CDOQ ranged from .55 to .89. The measurement model incorporating the design features of the CDOQ fitted the data well using the CFA. Because serious problems with multicollinearity and suppression were revealed, Beckstead's (2012) criterion-irrelevant-variance-omitted (CIVO) regression method was used to untangle the suppressor effects when predicting intention from the other components of the CDOQ. The results indicated that attitude and partner's feelings were significant and explained the bulk of the variance in intentions. The TPB-based instrument developed here will be of considerable use to maternal-child health researchers. The findings of this study suggest that decisions regarding delivery options may be modified by interventions geared toward pregnant women's attitudes within family- and cultural-centered prenatal programs.

Background Inner strength has been described as an important phenomenon in association with disease management, health, and ageing. To increase the knowledge of the phenomenon of inner strength, a meta-theoretical analysis was performed which resulted in a model of Inner Strength where inner strength comprises four interrelated and interacting dimensions; connectedness, creativity, flexibility, and firmness. The model was used in this thesis as a theoretical framework. Aim The overall purpose of this thesis was to develop and validate an inner strength scale, describe inner strength among an older population, and elucidate its significance for experience of health, despite disease and adversities. Methods The studies had quantitative approaches with cross-sectional designs (I-III) and a qualitative approach with narrative interviews (IV). Studies I-IV was part of the GErontological Regional DAtabase (GERDA) Botnia project. In study I, the participants (n = 391, 19-90 years old) were mostly from northern Sweden. In studies II and III, the participants (n = 6119, 65, 70, 75 and 80 years old) were from Sweden and Finland, and in study IV the participants (n = 12, 67-82 years old) were from Västerbotten County. Data was analysed using principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), various statistics, structural equation modelling, and qualitative content analysis. Results In study I, the Inner Strength Scale (ISS) was developed and psychometrically tested. An initial 63-item ISS was reduced to a final 20-item ISS. A four-factor solution based on the four dimensions of inner strength was supported, explaining 51% of the variance, and the CFA showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit. In study II, ISS scores in relation to age, gender and culture showed the highest mean ISS score among the 65-year-olds, with a decrease in mean score for every subsequent age (70, 75, and 80 years). Women had slightly higher mean ISS scores than men, and there were minor differences between the regions in Sweden and Finland. In study III, a hypothesis was proposed and subsequently supported in the results where inner strength was found to partially mediate in the relationship between disease and self-rated health. The bias-corrected bootstrap, estimating the mediating indirect effect was significant and the test of goodness-of-fit was satisfactory. In study IV, from the narratives of inner strength it was found that inner strength comprised feelings of being connected and finding life worth living. Having faith in oneself and one’s possibilities and facing and taking an active part in the situation were also expressed. Finally, coming back and finding ways to go forward in life were found to be essential aspects of inner strength. Conclusions The newly developed ISS is a reliable and valid instrument that captures a broad perspective of inner strength. Basic data about inner strength in a large population of old people in Sweden and Finland is provided, showing the highest mean ISS score among the 65-year-olds. Inner strength among old people is a resource for experience of health, despite disease and adversities. This thesis contributes to increase knowledge of the phenomenon of inner strength and provide evidence for the importance of inner strength for old people’s wellbeing. Increased knowledge of the four dimensions of inner strength; connectedness, creativity, flexibility and firmness, is proposed to serve as an aid for health care professionals in their efforts to identify where the need of support is greatest and to find interventions that promotes and strengthen inner strength. / Bakgrund Inre styrka har beskrivits som ett viktigt fenomen associerat till att hantera sjukdom, till hälsa och åldrande. För att öka kunskapen om fenomenet inre styrka genomfördes en metateoretisk analys som resulterade i en Inre Styrka modell där inre styrka omfattar fyra samverkande dimensioner; samhörighet, kreativitet, flexibilitet och fasthet. Modellen har använts i denna avhandling som ett teoretiskt ramverk. Syfte Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling var att utveckla och testa en skala som mäter inre styrka, beskriva inre styrka i en population av äldre, och att belysa dess betydelse för upplevelsen av hälsa, trots sjukdom 0ch motgångar. Metod Studierna som genomfördes hade kvantitativ ansats med tvärsnittsdesign (I-III) och kvalitativ ansats med narrativa intervjuer (IV).  Alla studier var en del av GErontologiska Regionala DAtabas (GERDA) Botnia projektet. Deltagarna i studie I (n= 391, 19-90 år) var mestadels från norra delarna av Sverige. I studierna II och III var deltagarna (n=6119, 65, 70, 75 och 80 år) från Sverige och Finland. I studie IV var deltagarna (n=12, 67-82 år) från Västerbotten. Data analyserades med hjälp av principalkomponentanalys och konfirmatorisk faktor analys (CFA), varierande statistik, strukturell ekvationsmodellering, och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat I studie I utvecklades och testades Inre Styrka Skalan (ISS). En inledande 63 frågors ISS reducerades till en slutlig 20 frågors ISS. Baserad på de fyra dimensionerna av inre styrka bekräftades en fyrafaktors lösning med 51 % förklaringsgrad och CFA visade ett tillfredställande goodness-of-fit. I studie II beskrevs inre styrka i relation till ålder, kön och kultur. Det högsta totala ISS medelvärdet skattades bland 65-åringarna med lägre medelvärden för varje efterföljande ålder (70, 75 och 80 år). Kvinnor skattade ett något högre totalt ISS medelvärde än män och det var inte några större skillnader mellan regionerna i Sverige och Finland. I studie III bekräftades den hypotes som lagts fram, att inre styrka kan mediera i relationen mellan sjukdom och upplevelsen av hälsa. Bias-corrected bootstrap visade en signifikant indirekt effekt i relationen mellan sjukdom och upplevelsen av hälsa, medierad av inre styrka, och test av modellens goodness-of-fit var tillfredsställande. I studie IV, utifrån berättelserna om inre styrka visade det sig att inre styrka omfattar känslor av samhörighet och att finna livet värt att leva. Att ha tillit till sig själv och sina möjligheter, och att kunna möta och ta aktiv del i situationen beskrevs också. Slutligen, att komma igen och hitta vägar att gå vidare i livet var viktiga aspekter av inre styrka.  Slutsatser Den nyutvecklade Inre Styrka Skalan är ett reliabelt och valitt instrument som fångar ett brett perspektiv av inre styrka. Basdata om inre styrka i en stor population äldre i Sverige och Finland har presenterats, och visar det högsta ISS medelvärdet bland 65-åringarna. Inre styrka bland äldre är en resurs för upplevelsen av hälsa, trots sjukdom och motgångar. Denna avhandling bidrar till att öka kunskapen om fenomenet inre styrka och ger evidens för att inre styrka har en viktig betydelse för äldres välbefinnande. Ökad kunskap om de fyra dimensionerna av inre styrka; samhörighet, kreativitet, flexibilitet, och fasthet, föreslås kunna vara en hjälp för vårdpersonal i deras arbete att identifiera var behovet av stöd är störst och att sätta in insatser som främjar och stärker inre styrka. / GErontologiska Regionala DAtabas (GERDA) Botnia projektet

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess probation officers knowledge levels of offenders with intellectual disabilities by utilizing a synthesis of subject matter analysis technique and a comprehensive review of literature. This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was devoted to establishing the knowledge domain and development of the needs assessment instrument. For this phase the available population consisted of four subject matter experts in southern Illinois and one subject matter expert (SME) from London, England. In order to develop an instrument to assess knowledge that probation officers have about offenders with ID, an establishment of knowledge domains through face-to-face interviews with subject matter experts were completed in this phase. In addition to the content analysis from SME interviews, a comprehensive review of literature on intellectual disabilities was conducted. Outcomes from both methods were compared and similar findings were combined and used to construct items for the first draft of the instrument. A pilot test for the newly developed needs assessment instrument was conducted in the second phase. In order to obtain this validation a pilot field test and re-test, a sample of 25 Jackson County, Illinois, First Circuit Probation, Western Region, juvenile and adult probation officers was used to administer assessment (developed in phase I). Approximately two weeks after first administration, the assessment was re-administered on the same sample population of probation officers. The data source was Probation Officer Knowledge of Intellectual Disabilities Assessment instrument test-retest scores. Responses were scored by giving correct answers one point, and incorrect answers zero. This yielded a total score for knowledge of intellectual disabilities. Scores from the first test administration was compared to scores from the second administration by reviewing overall score correlations. Once each item was computed separately, then all item-total correlations were computed. Cronbach's alpha estimate of reliability was also computed for both the first and second administrations (Trochim & Donnelly, 2007). Additional analysis performed in this study included (a) cut offs for high or low scores based on means, (b) item difficulty, (c) inter-item correlations and, (d) descriptive frequencies on items that assessed probation officers' opinions on organizational structure and attitudes about supervising offenders intellectual disabilities. The ultimate goal of this study was to establish knowledge domains and develop an instrument to assess probation officers' knowledge of offenders with intellectual disabilities. The results of the study can be used to add information to the body of literature to eventually build up enough support to determine a need for criminal justice agency administrators to incorporate effective training material on offenders with intellectual disabilities within curriculum development for new staff orientation, in-service or academy training of probation officers.

Statistics about violence experienced by women with disabilities are alarming, and yet, the reporting of this specific form of violence is neglected. Previous research indicates that though interpersonal violence affects women with disabilities like a hidden “epidemic”, the phenomenon is severely underreported. Women with disabilities frequently come in contact with human service providers; however, provider-based prejudice coupled with lack of education about women’s issues result in failing to screen for violence, or error in reporting. This study focused on measuring disability service providers’ competence in understanding and reporting interpersonal violence as experienced by women with disabilities. The objective of this study was to develop a self-assessment instrument to quantify service providers’ expertise in understanding, screening and reporting of interpersonal violence as experienced by women with disabilities. Data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, for the pilot study, data were acquired from 15 expert members; in the second phase, for the main study, data were obtained from 203 Masters level human service providers. Once collected, data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation to establish validity. The instrument thus generated was designated as SPCV-WD (Human Service Provider Competence about reporting Violence on Women with Disability scale), and it comprised of four factors (perception, training, screening and reporting, and awareness). These four factors loaded on 40 items, with an overall Cronbach’s alpha value of .833, explaining 45% of the total variance. Four dimensions of competency were identified from the qualitative data collected through the comments of participating service providers in the main study: absence of training, learning from personal interest, necessity of addressing violence, relevance of addressing abuse. This scale can be considered a reliable and valid measure to evaluate service provider competence in understanding and reporting violence as experienced by women with disabilities. It has the potential to be used for intervention and reform in academic and professional training pertaining to interpersonal violence. As this was an initial, exploratory study, future studies are essential to verify and confirm the factor structure and the psychometric properties of SPCV-WD. Keywords: instrument development, competence measurement, violence, women with disabilities, human service providers

abstract: Early spacecraft missions to Mars, including the Marnier and Viking orbiters and landers revealed a morphologically and compositionally diverse landscape that reshaped widely held views of Mars. More recent spacecraft including Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Exploration Rovers have further refined, enhanced, and diversified our understanding of Mars. In this dissertation, I take a multiple-path approach to planetary and Mars science including data analysis and instrument development. First, I present several tools necessary to effectively use new, complex datasets by highlighting unique and innovative data processing techniques that allow for the regional to global scale comparison of multiple datasets. Second, I present three studies that characterize several processes on early Mars, where I identify a regional, compositionally distinct, in situ, stratigraphically significant layer in Ganges and Eos Chasmata that formed early in martian history. This layer represents a unique period in martian history where primitive mantle materials were emplaced over large sections of the martian surface. While I originally characterized this layer as an effusive lava flow, based on the newly identified regional or global extent of this layer, I find the only likely scenario for its emplacement is the ejecta deposit of the Borealis Basin forming impact event. I also re-examine high thermal inertia, flat-floored craters identified in Viking data and conclude they are typically more mafic than the surrounding plains and were likely infilled by primitive volcanic materials during, or shortly after the Late Heavy Bombardment. Furthermore, the only plausible source for these magmas is directly related to the impact process, where mantle decompression melting occurs as result of the removal of overlying material by the impactor. Finally, I developed a new laboratory microscopic emission and reflectance spectrometer designed to help improve the interpretation of current remote sensing or in situ data from planetary bodies. I present the design, implementation, calibration, system performance, and preliminary results of this instrument. This instrument is a strong candidate for the next generation in situ rover instruments designed to definitively assess sample mineralogy and petrology while preserving geologic context. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geological Sciences 2012

The purpose of this study was to explore how students view the use of representation in science classroom. Representation, as a disciplinary language of science, has long been promoted as a way to develop students’ scientific literacy and is closely linked to engaging students in scientific practices through the use of models in science. However, previous research studies have mostly focused on the use of representation and models as outcome measure of an implementation task and little is known about the learner’s perspectives. The study aimed to fill this missing gap by investigating how students view the use of representation in science classroom and how these perception are linked to the epistemic practice and cognitive/conceptual practice of science learning. In this respect, the study involved (1) developing an instrument, namely, a Representation Survey, to assess students’ views on the use of representation and (2) examining the relationship between students’ views on representation and their understanding of models in science, science content knowledge, and critical thinking skills. The Representation Survey was developed in three phases as a pencil-and-paper questionnaire with 1-5 Likert scales, and grounded in the empirical data and a literature review. An exploratory factor analysis of the Representation Survey with 619 middle school students identified two distinct ways students view the use of representation: multiple modes of representation and uni-mode of representation. Correlation analysis with a modified version of the Student’ Understanding of Models (SUMS) Survey revealed a strong relationship between students’ perception on using multiple-mode of representation and their understanding of models in science, while how students perceive uni-modal representation was shown to be related to students’ performances in assessments of science content knowledge. Lastly, students’ critical thinking skills, as measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test, showed no evident relationship with students’ perceptions of the use of representation. A validity argument for the newly developed Representation Survey and modified SUMS instrument is presented, followed by a discussion of broader implications and limitations of the study.

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Global concerns about the preparedness of engineering Ph.D. students for professional practice are not new. In the U.S., educational reform has focused on the research experiences of students to foster better preparation. Yet, little is known about which aspects of students’ research experiences are essential to prepare them for practice due to the heterogeneity of the experiences, and what opportunities they have in their research to practice being a professional. The goal of this study was to develop and initially validate an instrument that measures students’ perceptions of their research experiences utilizing an ontological theoretical framework that focuses on what it means to become a professional. This framework simplified the heterogeneity and allowed for the investigation of how the research experiences of engineering Ph.D. students are providing opportunities for students to practice being a professional. Four distinct phases of development were utilized to accumulate validity evidence for the instrument: a development phase that focused on question generation and review: an initial pilot test that centered on an Exploratory Factor Analysis on responses (n = 236) from a large Midwestern University; a second pilot test that centered on a Confirmatory Factor Analysis on responses (n = 215) from multiple universities; and a Group Analysis phase that tested statistical differences between groups. Three key results emanated from this work. First, the accumulated validity evidence justifies the intended use of the instrument as a research and program evaluation survey to assess engineering Ph.D. students’ research experiences for opportunities to practice being a professional. Second, the results suggest that, on average, students had fewer opportunities to work with professionals (i.e., take on others’ forms of practice) in their research experiences than other types of opportunities. Third, the results suggest that research experiences can be categorized into those that provide significantly more and significantly fewer opportunities for students to practice being a professional. Higher education tends to focus on the epistemological aspects of professional practice preparation, but utilizing an ontological approach can identify gaps in preparation. Implications of the opportunities identified in this study are discussed for faculty, students, other researchers, instrument users, engineering administrators, and national program administrators, with a focus on providing more opportunities to students to practice being a professional. The utilization of an ontological approach for engineering Ph.D. students’ research experiences, including tangible examples and a call for a new vision for U.S. engineering Ph.D. research experiences, are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Larry H. Ludlow / Teachers in the United States are increasingly tasked with using data to inform their classroom instruction both through federal policies, such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2016), and state policies requiring the use of teacher-determined data-driven goals for performance evaluations (MA 603 CMR 35.07). Many teachers, however, report that they feel underprepared to engage in this type of work (Dunn et al., 2013), also called Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM). In addition, there is currently a limited set of instruments to measure the construct of using data to inform classroom instruction and the instruments that currently exist measure this construct using a typical Classical Test Theory design.This work developed an instrument called the Using Data to Inform classroom Instruction (UDII) scale to measure teachers’ use of data to inform classroom instruction. It used the Rasch/Guttman Scenario (RGS) methodology, an approach that develops scenarios that reflect the rich lived experiences of individuals (Antipkina & Ludlow, 2020; Ludlow et al., 2014). The RGS approach utilizes the Rasch model, part of the family of Item Response Theory models, which conceptualizes a construct as a hierarchical continuum. Scenario items and people are plotted on the same variable map, which allows for the development of rich descriptions of individuals at particular raw score locations on the continuum. An interpretative variable map is included to help schools and districts use the results of the survey. This work adds to the growing body of literature utilizing the RGS approach, as well as the literature focused on the use of data to inform classroom instruction (or DDDM). The UDII scale can be utilized by schools and districts who are engaged in the work of using data to inform classroom instruction to identify the current skillsets of teachers and/or teams of teachers to provide differentiated support, or it can be used before and after an intervention focused on using data to inform classroom instruction to measure change. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

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