This thesis created a profile of Indiana's association public relations practitioners to see what type of roles they performed and how involved they were in the decision-making processes of their association.Because of the lack of research done on associations and their public relations practitioners, this descriptive study attempted to draw a profile of association public relations practitioners in Indiana that could be applied to different parts of the country or nationwide. The study also provided a foundation on which future research concerning associations can be based.Of the 129 associations in the population, 83 practitioners responded (64.3 response rate) to the phone survey. Information was gathered concerning the practitioner's job roles, their involvement in the decision-making process as well as demographic information about the associations and themselves.Broom and Smith's four public relations roles (expert prescriber, problem-solving process facilitator, communication facilitator and communication technician) were used to see if the practitioners primarily played any specific role in their association.The findings of the study indicated that public relations practitioners in associations don't play any one of the roles primarily but perform all four to varying degrees. All of the practitioners, both men and women, were equally involved in the decision-making processes of their associations. Previous studies in these topic areas indicated that men would primarily perform the role of expert prescriber and women would primarily perform the role of communication technician. Previous research also showed men would also be more involved in the decision-making process instead of women because they performed the necessary roles that allowed for that involvement. The results from the association survey show that association public relations practitioners are quite different from the norm. These differences can be attributed to several reasons. The lack of departmentalization and smaller staff sizes cause association public relations practitioners to wear more than one hat or perform various roles to varying degrees. It is because of the multiplicity of roles they perform that public relations practitioners are allowed to be more involved in the decision-making process as opposed to other practitioners who perform a certain role a majority of the time. / Department of Journalism

Submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Degree In Masters in Health Sciences (Nursing), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2018. / This qualitative research study was conducted to explore and describe leadership competencies of the newly registered professional (NRP) nurses during the first year of registration with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) in selected provincial hospitals in the eThekwini health district. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data; open- ended questions provided participants with an opportunity to provide rich and detailed information about selected experiences as qualified professional nurses. The main objective of the study was to build on prior work in order to explore and describe selected leadership competencies of the NRP nurses, particularly those related to inability to manage conflict, uncertainty and fear of having to delegate, and observing unethical practice. Benner’s model of Novice to Expert nurse was used as the organising framework. The purposive sample comprised eight R425 trained professional nurses in their first year of registration with the SANC, who were working in the selected regional hospitals of eThekwini health district. All participants had completed one year of practice and reported believing that they were at Stage 3: Competent of Benner’s Stages of Clinical Competence model – from Novice to Expert. Six themes emerged, namely: support; uncertainty and fear of having to delegate; competence; transition to professional nurse; observed unethical practices; fear of victimisation; and difficult relationships. From the above stated themes fifteen sub-themes emerged. The results found that nurses are continuing to transition into Benner’s Stage 5: which requires continued support and integration as they evolve in their roles as professional nurses. / M

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Although traditional depictions of gender in ancient Japanese mythology continue to help define gender in Japanese culture, such recent litigation as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Childcare Leave Act signal change in these roles. This study explores the relationship between the Japanese hierarchical social structure and the parameters of the gender territories of women and men in a university club. Employing a single case (embedded) design, this study utilized the networks of former members (students who began their studies from 1953 to 1989) of Oendan (the "Cheering Club") at a private university in central Japan. Oendan's two sections, Leader-bu for men and Cheerleader-bu for women, have utterly different atmospheres. Leader-bu stresses daily rigorous and physically punishing practices in a highly disciplined atmosphere, whereas Cheerleader-bu more closely resembles its North American counterpart. To fully examine the differences between the two sections, I divided the case into three stages: (a) an historical analysis, (b) a survey, and (c) personal interviews. The results reflect an attitude that a perceived difference in physical strength and a strong sense of "tradition" inhibit true equality between the genders. Although most men may acquiesce in gender equality in an abstract sense, they also understand that, in reality, this is impossible because of the physical differences between the sexes. Leader-bu members continue to reinforce the importance of tradition year after year because they believe that they are benefiting, both personally and socially, from traditional beliefs and customs. Although victims of this belief system, they feel compelled to reproduce it. In reproducing it, however, they also must suffer from the lack of freedom that accompanies it. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

College counselors today face increasing challenges, with fewer resources than in the past. Little has been known as to whether college counselors take advantage of resources and benefits available through involvement in professional organizations in these increasingly challenging professional times. College counseling center professionals in one state in the Southwest were surveyed regarding their professional organization involvement (N = 152). Participants were selected by targeting specific 4-year institutions with undergraduate populations and specific counseling professionals who work in college counseling centers within these schools. Most college counselors surveyed were involved in professional organizations, and involved in a variety of ways within these organizations. Many professional organizations catering to college counselors were identified. Specific motivations for involvement and hindrances to involvement were identified. In addition, no significant difference was found among the involvement of professional counselors versus psychologists.

The purpose of this study is to appraise the club program as carried out in South Waco, attempting to determine the value of the program in an elementary school.

Sociality represents one of the major evolutionary transitions in life: a transition from individuality to societies as complex as our own. Animals exhibit a wide variety of societies, from temporary aggregations, such as schools of fish, to complex organizations where individuals maintain stable relationships, such as cooperative groups in birds, mammals, and eusocial ants. However, the diversity of social systems and the mechanisms driving the formation of complex societies remain unclear. In this dissertation, I aim to understand a less known complex social system, a colonial cooperatively breeding bird on the African savannah, grey-capped social weavers (Pseudonigrita arnaudi). I monitored daytime and nighttime relationships among more than 600 birds in over 100 colonies across three subpopulations for five breeding seasons using an auto-tracking system. In Chapter 1, I examine the social organization of this species and test the role of kinship in the organization of the society. In Chapter 2, I focus on the inter-annual variation in the fission-fusion process of colonies and test how social factors (i.e., group membership and colony membership) and ecological conditions (i.e., rainfall) may underlie individual and group decisions about settlement of colonies. In Chapter 3, I investigate the conflict in the form of infanticide behavior (i.e., egg tossing) in this social system and test nest predation as an alternative hypothesis against a presumed hypothesis that group conflict is the cause of the tossing behavior. In sum, my dissertation provides the first detailed study of a colonial and cooperatively breeding bird with high resolution of movement at the individual level. Understanding a new social system will not only expand our knowledge of the variety of animal societies, but will also give insight into how social complexity has evolved, including our own.

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The strength and affluence of an association is related to the size of its membership and its share of those eligible for membership. Associations, therefore, have an incentive not only to recruit new members, but also retain those who already belong. However, less is known about the exogenous economic factors that influence an individual's membership decision. Using time-series data from 1977 to 1992 and linear regression techniques, this thesis identifies and measures the economic factors important to the physician membership percentage of the American College of Radiology. The results of this thesis will provide the leadership of the American College of Radiology useful insight into the impact certain variables have on the membership. / Master of Arts