Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-340). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2001. / Title from title page screen (viewed Sept. 10, 2002). Thesis advisor: Jon P. Coddington. Document formatted into pages (vii, 73 p. : ill. (some col.)). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-188).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-340). Also available on the Internet.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences between 5th to 8th grade youth who stayed enrolled and those youth who dropped out of the Pima County Extension 4-H Youth Development Program. Youth who dropped out were surveyed with the National 4-H Impact Assessment Survey. The survey examined eight critical elements of positive youth development and asked the additional question why they dropped out. The research questions sought to find if there was a difference between 5 th to 8th grade youth who stayed enrolled and those who dropped out of the Pima County 4-H Youth Development Program. What perceptual differences were there between the genders and between the groups, stayed enrolled and dropped out? Were there differences amongst the grade levels of this study? The theoretical foundation for this research study centered on Erikson's psychosocial stage theory and crises, Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development, and Gilligan's theory on gender development. It was found that there were differences between grade level, gender, and group (those who stayed enrolled versus those who dropped out). Amongst female respondents, significant factors were "Feelings about 4-H", "Learning in 4-H", "Helping Others", "Planning and Decision-Making in 4-H", and "Belonging in 4-H". For male respondents, there were no conclusive patterns for the factors between the two groups. Significant factors for grade level were: "Adults in 4-H", "Learning in 4-H", "Helping Others", and "Planning and Decision Making in 4-H". The significant factors for grade level were "Belonging in 4-H" nor "Feelings About 4-H".

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest exporters of oil and is known as the hub of Islam. It has been argued that the production of oil has a harmful effect on the economic and political status of women. Therefore, these tribal states are left with atypically strong patriarchal institutions where women are assigned to the domestic sphere. However, the international political pressure on Saudi Arabia to improve the position of women post the events of September the 11th 2001 has led the government to mobilise initiatives encouraging women into the public sphere. In addition, the depletion of oil resources has drawn the government’s attention to lessen its dependency on oil production and concentrate on private sector investment. Part of the government’s strategy has specifically focused on women, who hold much of the wealth in the country, to invest in the entrepreneurial sector in order to diversify the Saudi economy and provide employment to the rapidly increasing population. However, the laws continue to maintain women’s secondary position in society, as they are built on tribal customs and ideologies which treat women as ‘legal minors’ under the guardianship of her closest male relative. Furthermore, women are confined to jobs in the labour market which are deemed ‘suitable to their nature’, and thus, their entrepreneurial investment is constrained by gender-­‐discriminating laws and placed within certain industries. Research on Saudi women’s experiences of participating in the labour force are scarce, as is the literature on Saudi female entrepreneurs .This thesis adopts a relational multilevel framework with the lens of ‘patriarchal connectivity’ in investigating the salient micro-­‐ domestic, meso-­‐societal and macro-­‐ state opportunities and boundaries of 13 Saudi female entrepreneurs embedded in the patriarchal context. The research adopts a relational methodological approach, capitalising on qualitative in-­‐depth interviews with the female entrepreneurs to explore their entrepreneurial experiences, motivations, and the boundaries and opportunities they face. Furthermore, the study investigates women’s negotiation strategies in overcoming the patriarchal boundaries. The findings highlight the women’s ‘emancipatory’ motivations behind entrepreneurship. They also illustrate the nature of the ‘permeable boundaries’ within and across the patriarchal domestic, societal and state domains, which meant the women were paradoxically confronted by ‘enabling’ opportunities and ‘constraining’ boundaries in each of the domains. However, whilst the women did exercise agency at some permeable boundaries, this agency remained within the confines of a prevailing patriarchal structure.

<p> The context of this project is Community Outreach Ministry in Riverside, California, interviewing six families caught in the cycle of incarceration. The problem was no stories addressing the children's needs by the children of incarcerated parents existed in the literature. The objective included apprehending and analyzing fifteen stories in eight weeks. The hypothesis accepted the children's stories as a research tool informing interventions for breaking the cycle of incarceration. A qualitative research narrative case study was implemented. The findings tested that the qualitative insights from the stories informed the model and resources as effective interventions to break the cycle of incarceration.</p>

<p>This thesis aims to measure the dimensions that comprise a relationship between an organization and its public (Organization-Public Relationship) across cultures in order to ascertain which of the dimensions are valued most in those various cultures. Through a historical look at public relations literature, the relatively new theory of Organization-Public Relations is traced, explained, and then applied. O-PR dimensions considered for study are trust, control mutuality, relationship commitment, relationship satisfaction, and face and favor. The study undertaken will be exploratory in nature; the survey will be distributed to international college students currently attending American universities, 18-25 and analyzed using one-way ANOVA to provide a comparison. While many culture-specific models of public relations exist, this study does not attempt to build a new model, but to measure cultures across an existing one. The expected outcomes will provide insight into building and measuring effective cross-cultural, and multi-cultural public relations campaigns, as well as allow for a further validation and understanding of international application of the Organization-Public Relationship Assessment (OPRA): a cross-cultural, multiple-item scale for measuring organization?public relationships developed by Huang (2001). Data will also be collected, analyzed, and compared on perception of likelihood of relationship dimensions affecting word-of-mouth advertising from students

<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to answer the question: What would constitute an effective strategy for training and developing holistic small group leaders, specifically at Renaissance Community Church? To begin the process of answering this question the author identified four specific steps that were necessary to assist in the development of holistic small group leaders at RCC. </p><p> Prior to the project design, the author, working with Dr. Bobby Hill of Hill Consulting, and using the NCD assessment tools, discovered that small groups were the minimum factor. It was at that point that RCC began transitioning from a church with small groups to a church of small groups. </p><p> This led to the first step of the ministry project, which involved recruiting twelve potential leaders and administering a pre-test designed to gauge the participant&rsquo;s current level of understanding and confidence to explain the following concepts: understanding God&rsquo;s purpose for small groups, understanding a leader&rsquo;s personal development, understanding and developing new leaders, understanding the dynamics of spiritual development, leading small group meetings, comprehending group progress, understanding the role of a shepherd, and with these competencies impact their world. </p><p> For the second step, using a <i>Modeling/Turbo</i> group model, the author developed an eight-week small group setting using the <i> Leading Life-Changing with Small Groups</i> as the leadership curriculum for the twelve participants. The author then used a post-test to measure the participants&rsquo; development in their abilities to explain and implement the material. </p><p> The third step consisted of the <i>turbo launch</i> in which the participants led six groups for eight weeks using the material <i> ReGroup: Training Groups to be Groups,</i> specifically designed by the author in order for the participants to implement their new skills. </p><p> This eight-week process ended with the fourth step, an exit interview with questions (see Appendix F) designed to measure the qualitative efficacy of the <i>Leading Life-Changing with Small Groups</i> training program. The participants&rsquo; showed signs of significant increase in both the understanding of the material during the eight week modeling/turbo group.</p>

Within contemporary views of attitude formation and change, two sources of influence are assumed to be available to the decision-maker when faced with making a behavioral decision. The first source represents information about consequences of engaging in the behavior and it is based on an individual's attitude. The second is based on normative information about the opinions held by others. Both attitudinal and normative influence can contribute to decision-outcomes, but there is little known about what factors impact the relative contribution of one over the other. In addition to individual level perceptions of a behavior, the context in which a decision is made also influences how individuals make behavioral decisions. The Structural Theory of Social Influence (SSI) proposes that network position, one of many contextual properties, explains how individuals weigh information from both attitudinal and normative sources (Friedkin, 1998). A multilevel test of this explanation is presented. Micro-level variables were based on individual level perceptions of attitude and subjective norm. A decision context was measured by social network analysis to create the macro-level variable of network position. This study focused on a decision context that was constructed of faculty and their behavioral intentions regarding a set of teaching behaviors. The results from a cross-level test (between the macro- and micro-level variables) suggest that network position does not explain variation attitudinal influence. These results are discussed in terms of the SSI and in how they inform diffusion processes. It is proposed that a theory of the balance between attitudinal and normative influence should include individual, behavioral, as well as structural level predictors of interpersonal influence.