The MMPI is used as a diagnostic tool in clinical settings. However, its length is a detriment. Various attempts have been made to develop shortened versions of the standard MMPI. One of the widely used short forms is Kincannon's Mini-Mult, but its validity scales are less accurate than the full MMPI. Dean's Midi-Mult is a more recent short form of the MMPI designed to approximate more closely the scores on the validity scales and clinical scales of the standard MMPI.

The Baby Boomer generation in the United States is growing older, and the number of adults age 65 years or older is expected to double by 2050. The increase in older adults combined with the reduction in services to older adults has created a gap in available social services and volunteers are needed to fill those gaps. This quantitative, nonexperimental study was designed to identify the motivations of volunteers who served the socialization needs of isolated older adults in a rural U.S. community. The functional approach theory was utilized to explain how volunteers engage in the same volunteer activity for different reasons. The Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) was used to gather data on the motivations of Little Brothers- Friends of the Elderly (LBFOTE) volunteers as well as demographic data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, ANOVAs, and ANCOVAs to determine the relationships between the 6 functions of the VFI and demographic variables. The majority of volunteers of LBFOTE in this study were White married women with a college degree who were over 56 years of age, retired, and had volunteered for greater than 1 year. This demographic showed that the LBFOTE volunteer base is aging; 70% of volunteers were age 56 and older and 92.6% of volunteers had served for more than one year, indicating that the LBFOTE retains volunteers. Participants identified humanitarian and altruistic reasons as their motivation to volunteer, giving these the highest scores on VFI Values function. The findings promote positive social change by providing information to inform recruiting and retaining volunteers by targeting motives and untapped demographics, contributing to a culture of serving the socialization needs of isolated older adults.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / The present study investigated whether the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) measures the same construct in exactly the same way across the groups of interest and time in South Africa. The degree to which items or subtests of the BDI-II have equal meaning across qualitatively distinct groups of examinees (e.g., culture and gender) was explored. Measurement Invariance (MI) of the BDI-II across race (blacks and whites), gender and time (two weeks lag) was examined in a sample of university students, from two universities located in diverse geographical regions of South Africa (N = 919). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the fit of the hypothesized three-factor model established through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the results from these analyses indicated that the BDI-II was most adequately represented by a three lower-order factor structure (appropriately named Negative attitude, Performance difficulty and Somatic complaints). Results based on multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) (i.e., means and covariance structures [MACS]) indicated that there was factorial invariance for this three lowerorder factor structure across groups and time, suggesting that the BDI-II provides an assessment of severity of depressive symptoms that is equivalent across race, gender and time in university students. Results indicated that MI was established at the level of configural, metric and scalar invariance for race, gender and across time. However, there was some evidence of differential item functioning (DIF) and differential additive response style (ARS) across race, with two noninvariant intercepts (items 5 and 14) and three item intercepts (items 11, 14 and 18) across gender being identified. Additionally, results of latent mean differences were presented to explain group differences. The study concluded with recommendations for future studies.

El presente proyecto de investigación tiene como finalidad el desarrollo de una propuesta basada en la mejora de la gestión de inventarios en una empresa de la industria de minería y construcción. Por ello se emplearán conceptos básicos de gestión de inventarios y pronósticos. Hoy en día, son muchas las empresas pertenecientes a diferentes industrias las cuales buscan conseguir mejorar en la administración de sus inventarios, entre ella se encuentran empresas mineras y de construcción. Las empresas tienen muy en claro que los inventarios son recursos financieros que en lugar de proporcionar algún beneficio se encuentran inmovilizados. Es por ello que gestionar de una mejor manera los inventarios es un tema de gran índole en la actualidad. La empresa en estudio se dedica a la venta de repuestos para maquinaria pesada dirigida hacia el sector de minería y construcción. A la vez, brinda servicios post venta de reparación y mantenimiento. Posee una gama de miles de productos enfocados en un máximo de 10 proveedores. Al encontrar problemas con el stock, se realizó el diagnóstico a la empresa encontrándose el problema de un nivel excesivamente elevado de inventarios. Para ello se propone mejoras en la gestión de inventarios comenzando con la técnica de priorización ABC para centrarse en aquellos productos que generan mayores ingresos. Luego se hará uso de pronósticos de demanda para determinar la cantidad que se va a ofertar para el siguiente periodo y por último se realiza el cálculo de la cantidad a pedir. Al finalizar la parte cuantitativa del proyecto se desarrolla y define los procesos que van a dar soporte a la gestión de inventarios. Además, también se determinó los costos asociados que se incurrirían al desarrollar el proyecto y su análisis de costo beneficio. Finalmente se presenta las conclusiones y recomendaciones que la empresa debe de tener en cuenta en caso de colocar en práctica el proyecto. / The purpose of this research project is to develop a proposal based on the improvement of inventory management in a company in the mining and construction industry. Therefore, basic concepts of inventory management and forecasts will be used. Today, there are many companies belonging to different industries which seek to improve the management of their inventories, including mining and construction companies. The companies are very clear that inventories are financial resources that instead of providing some benefit are immobilized. That is why managing inventories in a better way is a very important issue at present. The company under study is dedicated to the sale of spare parts for heavy machinery directed towards the mining and construction sector. At the same time, it provides post-sale repair and maintenance services. It has a range of thousands of products focused on a maximum of 10 suppliers. When finding problems with the stock, the diagnosis was made to the company finding the problem of an excessively high level of inventories. To do this, we propose improvements in the management of inventories starting with the ABC prioritization technique to focus on those products that generate the highest income. Then demand forecasts will be used to determine the amount that will be offered for the next period and finally the calculation of the amount to be ordered is made. At the end of the quantitative part of the project, the processes that will support the inventory management are developed and defined. In addition, the associated costs that would be incurred when developing the project and its cost-benefit analysis were also determined. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations that the company should take into account in case of putting the project into practice are presented. / Tesis

The focus of the study was to investigate the nature of the apparent inconsistency reported in the literature on the relationship between personality variables and indices of religiosity. The literature indicates that indices of religiosity have been associated with labels both of "desirable" and "undesirable" personality traits to varying degrees, and no definitive conclusions have been thus far reached. The study suggested that the inconsistent evidence has been a result of a narrow definition of personality functioning and a broad definition of religiosity that has not allowed an adequate test of the relationship between personality and religiosity. The study developed the notion that a multidimensional personality measure (California Psychological Inventory -- CPI) paired with (1) a theoretically precise and psychometrically researched index of religiosity (i.e., Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale -- IRMS) and (2) a traditional index of religiosity (i.e., denominational membership) might provide new information relative to the relationship between religiosity and personality. The CPI and the IRMS were administered to 108 male and female Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints (LOS) and Presbyterian denominational members. CPI subscale scores and IRMS scores were analyzed by a Pearson product-moment correlational analysis, a univariate analysis of variance, and a step-wise multiple discriminate analysis. Significant correlations between IRMS scores and CPI subscale scores were found; however the variance explained was not sufficient to be of theoretical use. There were statistically significant mean differences among denominations (Baptists, LOS, Presbyterians) and between types of religious motivation (intrinsics and extrinsics defined by an IRMS score median split) on the CPI subscales. It was noted that all CPI subscale means fell within the normal range and were not clinically significant. Subjects characterized by denominational membership and religious motivation were characterized by normal personality functioning. Discriminant functions were computed which predicted group membership based on the CPI subscales at accuracy level s between 63.7% and 87.5%. It was argued that tests available to researchers do not allow an adequate test of the relationship between personality and religiosity. It was recommended that researchers study the relationship between religiosity and personality by directly examining subjects' behaviors in combination with utilizing test inventories.

This study was designed to refine and validate a 160-item self-report instrument which drew its items from personality theories and from clinical practice related to delinquency. The aim was to estimate the usefulness of items descriptive of delinquent behavior by testing their reliability and discriminative power. There were two objectives. First: to test a set of items for their power to discriminate delinquent from non-delinquent responses which referred to delinquent and nondelinquent behavior. Second, to validate the power of the selected set of items to discriminate delinquent from non-delinquent youths in a second mixed group. Both objectives were realized in that significantly discriminating items emerged, which when administered to a second group, correctly classified 80% of the tested youths. The subjects in this study were youths who were selected as delinquents (n = 125) and nondelinquents (N = 125). The items used in the measuring instrument were collected over a period of several. years and based on theoretic al and clinical resources. Selected items referred to family togetherness, family supportiveness, limit-setting and behavior consequences, self-esteem and success, and school functioning. The results of the study provide a set of items which may be administered to help describe dis social behavior. The items may be used to educate parents, other adults, and students in recognizing some psycho-social behaviors related to interpersonal social behavior.

This study investigates and describes the development of an instrument named the Electronics Laboratory Environment Inventory (ELEI), which is used to measure students' perceptions of the electronics laboratory class as a learning environment. The sample consisted of 353 of 708 Computer Engineering active students from eight classes in Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia. Bina Nusantara University which has the largest number of computer engineering students in Indonesia. Students' learning outcomes were measured using z-scores in electronics subjects and students' attitudes in laboratory classes were measured by using the Attitude Towards Electronics Questionnaire (ATEQ). Directed by the research questions, numerous statistical analyses were performed. These included item analysis, inter-item correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance for establishing reliability and validity of the laboratory class environment instruments in the present study; descriptive statistics for investigating the nature of the learning environment in electronics subjects; simple and multiple correlation analyses for investigating associations between laboratory class environment and students' outcomes. In all cases, electronics laboratory classes have played a major role. The scales measured Student Cohesiveness, Open-endedness, Integration, Technology Adequacy, and Laboratory Availability. The results showed that all five scales have a reasonable alpha reliability with low mean correlations. / The study discovered that, generally, students perceived their electronics class learning environments as favourable. It was found that students' perceptions of electronics laboratory class environment were associated with students' learning outcomes. The results of this study make important and unique contributions to students' learning outcomes, suggesting that the instruments are useful for assessing laboratory class environment in the other studies.

Abstract not available

There has been little Australian research on the religious and spiritual values of counsellors � one study only, published by Cross and Khan in 1983. However, this issue is an important one, as counsellors' values may influence their clients and the need of clients may require the attention of the counsellor to religious and spiritual issues. This study consisted of two surveys in which the religious and spiritual beliefs and values of Australian counsellors were examined. The first study addressed some root questions concerning the relevance of religion and spirituality to psychologists and therapists in the counselling situation. The queries concerned (a) the recognition and acceptance by counselling practitioners of the religious/spiritual dimension of a person, (b) whether religious issues, values and beliefs were seen as an integral part of psychotherapy and (c) the degree to which these practitioners saw themselves as religious or spiritual. To answer some of these root questions, the initial objective of the field study was to survey psychologists and therapists in Canberra using the Batson and Ventis (1982) Religious Life Inventory, because this was a framework for identifying the ways in which a person was religious. Added to this were some demographic questions and questions regarding the relevance of religion to work. A poor response rate led to the surveys being sent also to Sydney and Melbourne. Results from this first survey were limited. The term "religion" was found to be far more complex than at first realised, and hence objectives were modified for a second survey. The second survey focussed on perceptions of spirituality of Canberra counsellors. The survey questions were based on the studies by Shafranske and Gorsuch (1984) and Shafranske and Malony (1990). Added to these questions were demographic questions and open questions dealing with personal insights, experiences with symbols, rituals and myths. Ideas for questions were also taken from studies on religion in Australia, including Bouma and Dixon (1986) and the Australian Values Study Survey (1983). The data was analysed first by tabling frequencies, then by cross-tabulating selected variables and computing the chi-square statistic for each cross-tabulation to determine whether the relationship was significant at the 0.05 level. Results suggested that the majority of Canberra practitioners not only perceived spirituality as important to their personal life and clinical work, but also regarded themselves as spiritual people and believed in a transcendent Being and Life Force. Most saw their spirituality as entirely personal and had little connection with organised or traditional religions. Within the counselling relationship approximately half of the counsellors were willing to discuss religious issues, and nearly 90% to discuss their clients' spirituality. Female counsellors were much more likely than male to discuss a client's religious beliefs with them; other differences between the sexes were less marked. The high response rate in this study together with the significant findings indicate the value of further research in this area on a broader scale.

Research on the families of the disabled suggest that the advent of a child with a disability will cause a far-reaching effect on the mother, father, siblings and the family's relationship with the outside world. Researchers have differed on the extent and causes of difficulties faced by the siblings, with many inconsistencies and contradictions shown. Some studies have found behavioural problems and lowered self-esteem, and others suggest an increase in altruism and compassion. An investigative study was implemented, with siblings from 29 families with a disabled child, matched with siblings from 29 families with no identified disabled sibling. Patterns of family outings, the use of support services and perceptions of difficulties faced by the family were examined. The matched siblings were compared on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, measures of altruism, and behaviour as seen by both teachers and parents. The children also were questioned on their perception of family cohesion and their involvement with other family members. Major findings of the study were a pattern of social isolation for the families, and perception of isolation within and outside the family for both the parents and the siblings. The siblings scored significantly lower on the Coopersmith Inventory, and parents perceived them as having more behavioural difficulties than the controls' parents. No significant difference in altruism was found between the two groups of siblings. The finding that some siblings are coping well, whilst others are showing severe difficulties is ilustrated by four case studies. A number of limitation s of the study are discussed. particularly the wide range of variables investigated, and difficulties with some instruments. Further areas of research are suggested, including exploring the relationships and interactions within the family. It is concluded that for both the siblings and the whole family, the development of strong support networks and help in reframing perceptions and expectations may help to overcome the feelings of intra-family and extra-family isolation.