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The present field experiment investigated the effect of Greenberg's procedural justice model on a performance appraisal system. Greenberg's justice elements were implemented in an appraisal system which previously did not contain these factors. Including these elements increased employee satisfaction with the appraisal system. The model proposed to account for this increase in satisfaction did not appropriately fit the data. Further methods for assessing possible causal paths were investigated. Several methodological considerations are proposed for future research. / Master of Science

Background: Longitudinal studies suggest that socioeconomic status (SES) and mental health have a bidirectional relationship, such that declines in SES lead to a deterioration of mental health (social causation), while worsening mental health leads to declines in SES (social drift). Nevertheless, existing research has important substantive and methodological gaps. Most notably, studies often employ one from a diverse range of SES indicators and arrive at different conclusions, with labor market indicators (e.g., earnings) providing more consistent evidence of bidirectional effects and non-labor market indicators (e.g., family income) generally offering only support for social causation dynamics. Studies frequently estimate “average effects” failing to examine differences in social causation and social drift effects across populations. From a methodological standpoint, studies often have limited ability to draw causal inferences. For instance, studies examine either social causation or social drift effects independently without controlling for reverse causation. Other studies fail to control for time-invariant differences across individuals that could significantly bias estimates. Furthermore, studies on the association between material hardship and mental health often rely on measures of material hardship with unknown validity and reliability. This three-paper dissertation seeks to tackle several shortcomings in existing research, with the goal of improving and advancing our understanding how SES and mental health affect each other over time and how these dynamics vary across populations. Methods: This dissertation employs data from a five-wave representative panel (n=3,103) of working-age (18-64) New York City adults with yearly measures of individual earnings, family income (income-to-needs), material hardship, and psychological distress. Paper 1 examines bidirectional effects between income types (individual earnings and family income) and distress by relying on cross-lagged panel models with unit fixed effects (FE-CLPM). Subgroup analyses are conducted by examining effects by age, gender, education, and racial/ethnic identification. Paper 2 develops measurement models for material hardship and examines the relationships longitudinal trajectories of income, material hardship, and distress. To identify dimensions underlying the seven observed material hardship indicators, Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) were performed on a randomly selected training sample (n=1,542). Subsequently, cross-sectional Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) and longitudinal invariance tests were conducted on the holdout sample (n=1,561) to further examine the factor structure extracted via EFA and test its measurement equivalence across time. A latent state-trait model examined the extent to which indicators vary or persist over time. Additional CFA models were specified to examine the association between material hardship and income types and psychological distress. Lastly, utilizing factor scores calculated based on CFA models, parallel linear growth curve models were estimated to examine the association between the longitudinal trajectories of income types, material hardship, and psychological distress. Paper 3 examines the bidirectional effects between material hardship, psychological distress, earnings, and family income. Material hardship is measured via a single scale and two subscales for unmet needs (e.g., food insufficiency, housing instability, medical needs, cash hardship) and billpaying hardship (e.g., difficulty paying for rent/mortgage and utilities, utilities disconnection). Factor scores for material hardship measures were estimated based on measurement models developed in paper 2 of this dissertation. I utilize FE-CLPMs to examine social causation and social drift effects between material hardship and psychological distress. An initial model examines effects between material hardship and distress only controlling for partnership status and number of children as time-varying covariates. Subsequently, three-variable FE-CLPMs examine effects between income (earnings or family income), material hardship, and distress. Total, direct, and indirect effects are estimated to examine the effect of income on distress via material hardship, and the effect of distress on material hardship through income. Follow-up models examine the simultaneous effects of unmet needs and billpaying hardship. Finally, subgroup analyses examine bidirectional effects between the material hardship subscales and distress by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and permanent family income. Conclusions: The findings of this dissertation provide new evidence about the bidirectional effects between SES and psychological distress. Nonetheless, this study also reveals important differences in the magnitude and direction of effects depending on the SES indicator employed and the population studied. Across income types, individual earnings may be stronger determinants of mental health than family income. Additionally, social causation and social drift effects between income and distress vary by age, education, gender, and racial/ethnic identities. In paper 2, two distinct, although highly correlated, dimensions of material hardship were identified, namely, unmet needs and billpaying hardship. Consistent with prior research, the rate of change in material hardship mediated the association between the rates of change in income and distress. However, the mediating role of material hardship seems to be driven by the unmet needs factor and not billpaying hardship. Unmet needs (e.g., food, housing, medical care) may be more important social determinants of mental health than difficulties paying for bills (e.g., rent, utilities). The findings of paper 3 offer evidence supporting the reciprocal relationship between material hardship and psychological distress, particularly highlighting the significance of unmet needs as a social determinant of mental health. Difficulties in paying bills seem to be especially important among individuals facing economic disadvantage and those nearing retirement age. From a methodological perspective, the findings of this three-paper dissertation make a case for employing rigorous methods to improve the causal inference of studies about the relationship between SES and mental health. Particularly, this study underscores the importance of methods that can control for unobserved differences between individuals and examining social causation and social drift effects simultaneously. From a substantive perspective, this dissertation also underscores the importance of moving beyond ‘average effects’ and examining potential disparities in the way that subpopulations experience the effects of SES and mental health. From a social policy standpoint, this study highlights the importance of providing support to mitigate the impact of material hardship and income shocks, particularly earnings losses, as these factors have independent effects on distress. Moreover, future research ought to prioritize the development of interventions aimed at alleviating the economic and mental health consequences arising from bidirectional effects between SES and psychological distress.

A sociological approach is used to analyze incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. Through an analysis of arguably the most widely publicized "rogue" trader events in recent history, a determination is made of the validity of explaining these events as aberrations, attributable to the actions of "rogues". The primary focus is the role of structural factors underlying these incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. A diverse range of documentary and other sources is used to avoid any form of bias as far as possible. It was found that structural factors act as countervailing forces to inhibit such behavior or as motivators and facilitators acting as catalysts for extreme opportunism. The balance between these factors largely determines the level of opportunistic behavior in a particular environment. Extreme opportunism is therefore not an aberration or "rogue" occurrence but a manageable phenomenon intrinsic to the social structural context within which it occurs. By conceptualizing these factors as countervailing forces one is forced to view structural factors, like compensation structures and formal and informal restraints, relative to one another and no longer in isolation. This realization translates into the conclusion that restraints and oversight systems for example, should be designed relative to the relevant motivators and facilitators in its area of application. In an environment where traders of highly geared financial products are motivated with multimillion USD incentive packages, a low budget oversight system and inexperienced regulatory staff, is clearly not the appropriate tools to control and manage extreme opportunism. / Criminology / D.Phil. (Sociology)

Leung Tsan-wing. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the needs of parents and teachers to identify factors that contributed to academic achievement among elementary grade students. Data was collected from a total of 65 parents and teachers of elementary grade students from Rowland Elementary School in Rowland Heights.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Department of Critical and Cultural Studies, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 310-325. / Introduction -- School violence: a brief overview -- What's in a name?: constructing an institutional identity in an educational market -- The discipline of gentlemen -- Parent consumers: tactical manoeuvres and institutional strategies -- Making the papers: Trinity in the news -- Games of truth: "everyone has their spin" -- Conclusions. / This study integrates sociological theories of social class with poststructuralist theories of subjectivity, representation and consumption, to consider the complex ways in which the representational practices of institutions and individuals are implicated in the production of violence in schools. This work draws particularly on a case study of incidents of sexual violence which occurred at an elite private school in Sydney during 2000, in which four students were charged with a range of offences committed against younger peers over a period of months. The assault incidents received widespread media coverage and sparked intense public debate, in response to which a media strategies consultant was engaged by the school to liaise with members of the press. This study demonstrates the extent to which the interrelationships between systems of signification (in particular, written and visual texts) and other social systems, (for example, families, schools, and political economy) function in the constitution of subjectivities and the production of meaning, and takes as its focus the interrelationship and functioning of texts, discursive practices and social practices which pertain specifically to the assault incidents described above. Data are derived from a range of sources and genres, including promotional materials, personal and general correspondence, media reports, and interviews, necessitating a variety of qualitative analytic methods. Informed by critical post-structuralist theory, in particular the work of Bourdieu, Foucault, and de Certeau, this work considers questions pertaining to the operation of power within social institutions, with particular emphasis on the constitutive function of discourse. The analysis extends current conceptualisations of school violence through a post-structuralist interrogation of, and linking of violence to, educational consumption, which has predominantly been theorised according to sociological or economic models. The argument is made that the market ideologies which pervade contemporary social and educative practice, together with the representational practices and disciplinary regimes of schools, function in the constitution of social subjects who occupy multiple ambiguous subject positions in the patriarchal hierarchies which characterise the power relations and institutions under consideration, thus implicating institutions in the production of violence. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / vii, 325 leaves

A sociological approach is used to analyze incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. Through an analysis of arguably the most widely publicized "rogue" trader events in recent history, a determination is made of the validity of explaining these events as aberrations, attributable to the actions of "rogues". The primary focus is the role of structural factors underlying these incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. A diverse range of documentary and other sources is used to avoid any form of bias as far as possible. It was found that structural factors act as countervailing forces to inhibit such behavior or as motivators and facilitators acting as catalysts for extreme opportunism. The balance between these factors largely determines the level of opportunistic behavior in a particular environment. Extreme opportunism is therefore not an aberration or "rogue" occurrence but a manageable phenomenon intrinsic to the social structural context within which it occurs. By conceptualizing these factors as countervailing forces one is forced to view structural factors, like compensation structures and formal and informal restraints, relative to one another and no longer in isolation. This realization translates into the conclusion that restraints and oversight systems for example, should be designed relative to the relevant motivators and facilitators in its area of application. In an environment where traders of highly geared financial products are motivated with multimillion USD incentive packages, a low budget oversight system and inexperienced regulatory staff, is clearly not the appropriate tools to control and manage extreme opportunism. / Criminology and Security Science / D.Phil. (Sociology)

The present study draws on uses and gratifications and media system dependency perspectives for examining factors related to Internet usage behaviors of international students and their motives to use their home-country Internet resources.