Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

<p> This study examined the organizational commitment and professional development of adjunct nursing faculty as it related to socialization processes provided by their organization. This study also investigated the independent variables that contributed to affective, continuance, and normative commitment. The study was conducted using an online Survey looking at the commitment levels of adjunct nursing faculty from nursing programs in New York State. Participants self-reported demographics which assisted in providing commonality among the participants, and completed two valid, published surveys; Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchinson, and Sowa's (1986) <i>Survey of Perceived Organizational Commitment (SPOC)</i> and Allen and Meyer's (1990) <i>Three Component Model (TCM) of Organizational Commitment</i>. Results indicated that age, one independent variable, was found to be significant for continuance commitment between two age groups; 25&ndash;40 and 55 and greater. This finding leads academic administrators to focus on their multigenerational workforce needs, which now occupies many of their teaching positions. Further research is warranted to investigate the multigenerational nursing adjunct faculty member and the relationship socialization processes has on their organizational commitment and professional development.</p>

The purpose of this study was to lay the foundation for a string research agenda, that is, to develop a model for string research. This study represents a qualitative investigation of the question, what are the component variables of a string education that produce outstanding string orchestral performers? A detailed pilot investigation of an outstanding orchestral performer provided an initial model followed by a comprehensive investigation of selected members from The Philadelphia Orchestra string section. A taxonomy for undertaking a qualitative study in music education was formulated followed by an identification of the researcher's personal biases resulting in a learning theory called The Developmental Learning Theory For String Education. Intrinsic and extrinsic variables responsible for developing the capabilities of a string orchestral performer were identified as well as the antecedent educational and environmental processes that, in whole or in part, seemed responsible for producing such a high level of competence. The study specified models for string learning and for string education and concluded by establishing a model for a string research agenda. / The models regarding a string education, string learning, string research, and the data information regarding the component variables of a string education are geared towards developing and identifying the professional string performer and represent the conditions necessary for developing such a player. Information presented in this study does not necessarily relate to the non-professional player even though many of the component variables may be in common. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0501. / Major Professor: Clifford K. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This study examined the developmental process of female faculty within the framework of the Levinson theory of adult development. Four stages of Levinson's model were selected for investigation because they included the ages most often found in the academic profession: The Age-Thirty Transition (ages 29-33), the Settling-Down Period (34-40), the Mid-Life Transition (41-45) and Entering Middle Adulthood (46-50). This study included 100 full-time female faculty employed at Stetson University, Rollins College and the University of Central Florida. / Since there was a paucity of literature on the developmental process for female faculty, literature on theories of adult development, female faculty, and theories of career development were examined. Themes of women's developmental process emerged form the literature review and included the importance of relationships, meaning of work, achievement, mentor relationships, and multiple role involvement. / The 100 participants were sent a questionnaire in order to obtain demographic data and information on their developmental process, both personal and professional. Additionally, interviews were conducted with five women in each age group. Demographic characteristics of the faculty participants were presented. Common developmental tasks that characterize each age stage were identified. Also, significant events in the lives of female faculty were identified that affected the developmental process. It was found that women experience most of the developmental tasks described by Levinson in his theory of adult development and that the developmental process continues through the life course for the ages of female faculty included in this study. Most female faculty had traditionally ordered career progressions and were pleased with their career choice. Significant personal and professional life events were found to affect the developmental process for female faculty and although more professional events were identified, personal events were found to have greater influence on the developmental process. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: A, page: 1643. / Major Professor: David Leslie. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This dissertation consists of four essays on welfare economics. The first essay investigates Arrow's general possibility theorem by introducing a particular comparability of individual utilities. The well-known voting procedure, the median voter method, is characterized by using this particular comparability of individual utilities. The second essay investigates Arrow's problem by going to another direction, viz., without introducing any concept of individual or social preference. Instead, we examine the problem of aggregating individual choices. Several plausible axioms are introduced for this exercise, and approval voting and the plurality rule are characterized. The third essay examines Sen's impossibility theorem. We prove that the conflict roots on the informational contents of two different value judgments about social welfare. The fourth essay examines the problem of measuring the extent of freedom of choices. Depending on the valuation system, a concept of hierarchical importance of freedom is introduced. Then we propose several axioms for measuring the extent of freedom of choice in the framework and two lexicographic counting rules and a dominance relation rule are characterized / acase@tulane.edu

A covariance structure model consists of a measurement model, which is a collection of variables and their associated constructs or factors, and a structural model, which is a set of predictions about the causal relationships among the constructs. Data are collected on the variables and a covariance or correlation matrix is computed. The covariance structure modeling (CSM) procedure estimates the parameter values in the model that has been specified and assesses how well the model fits the data. Models failing to provide a good fit to the data are often modified. This process is known as a specification search The current Monte Carlo study investigated the effectiveness of the choice of one of five initial structural models, the method used to address the measurement model, and the search statistics used (Lagrange multiplier and expected parameter change) on the success rate of specification searches. 700 specification searches were conducted on 40 sample matrices (N = 300) generated from 4 population models. The effectiveness of the search statistics differed by the method used to address the measurement model with the expected parameter change having a higher success rate when the measurement model was assessed independently of the structural model and the Lagrange multiplier having a higher success rate when the measurement and structural models were assessed simultaneously. Successful model recovery did not differ significantly by the initial structural model used but the full initial model always performed equal to or superior to the other initial models. Successful model recovery differed markedly by population model with success rates ranging from 16% to 73%. The research concludes with a call for future research and a list of suggested research topics / acase@tulane.edu

For over fifteen years Spector and Kitsuse's social constructionist model has served as the most popular explanation of how social problems develop. Despite its popularity, their natural history perspective has received little empirical scrutiny. This investigation (1) assesses the applicability of Spector and Kitsuse's model to the empirical reality of social-problem histories reported in the literature and (2) suggests a practical elaboration of the schema Initial consideration is given to an historical survey of natural history models prior to the Spector and Kitsuse schema. Subsequently, their natural history framework is systematically diagramed in evolutionary sequence. Theoretical contributions and limitations of the Spector and Kitsuse framework are examined. This segment ends with a review of three successive natural history models A second section surveys 53 social-problem histories appearing in the literature since 1973. The studies are analyzed to determine presence of agreement with the implied premises, labelling, ordering, content, and particular contingency points of Spector and Kitsuse's model. An assessment of how studies of social-problem development are constructed empirically is based upon the references, data sources and methods, research designs, concept operationalization, levels and periods of data analyses, specification of variables, and deviations from the Spector and Kitsuse perspective utilized in the data set A third section explores empirical concerns associated with the role and use of Spector and Kitsuse's schema in research investigations. Problems in model application relate to linearity and stage demarcation, specification of processes and subprocesses, designation of study variables, data adequacy and reliability, and 'cult research' practices The following section updates and extends the work of Spector and Kitsuse by providing a tool to study systematically the social processes making up social problems. The rudimentary taxonomy dissects social-problem solving into nine activity steps whose outcomes are shaped by three necessary factors and six contingent factors Last, the study recapitulates survey findings and reviews two recent attempts at theoretical exposition of the social definitionalist perspective. The final segment considers future directions of the taxonomic research proposed / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation evaluates Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) as a method to sample female sex workers (FSW) in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The empirical analysis of this dissertation is based upon a behavioral surveillance survey of 420 FSWs conducted by the author, in conjunction with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Global AIDS Program (GAP) during the spring of 2004. The survey sample includes FSWs over the age of 18 years, having exchanged sex for money in the past one month, and living and/or working in Ho Chi Minh City Estimating the behaviors, size and composition of 'hidden populations' (e.g., Intravenous drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers, etc.) in countries with increasing HIV prevalence is of particular interest to researchers and public health officials hoping to respond to the HIV epidemic. However, the fact that these sub-populations often lack sampling frames, are rare in the population, and have behaviors that are stigmatized and/or illegal, hinders researchers from obtaining estimates that are unbiased and reliable. Until recently, most research conducted on these groups relied on sampling methodologies with well know biases and limited external validity Recently, researchers have become interested in a variant of chain referral methodology known as RDS. RDS claims to reduce biases associated with chain-referral methods, by utilizing a dual system of structured incentives, whereby peers recruit their peers. RDS uses several recruitment waves to ultimately yield a sample with a composition independent of the non-randomly selected initial subjects. And, in some cases, RDS can be relatively faster and less expensive than the other sampling methods mentioned above (Salganik, 2003; Semaan, 2002) / acase@tulane.edu

In the context of China's growing HIV epidemic, men who have sex with men (MSM) have become a population of special interest and male sex work has emerged as an area of particular concern. Dominant narratives about men who sell sex to men in China from Chinese gay communities, health workers, and the general population have variably framed them as rural-to-urban migrants, questioned the authenticity or appropriateness of their homosexuality, and emphasized their role in driving the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among MSM and to the broader population. Despite the quasi-legal and socially stigmatized status of sex work, changes in labor and economic policies and the broadening visibility of gay entertainment scenes have seemed to open up more spaces for the evolution of male-male commercial sex. / From 2007 to 2009 I conducted multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in China. My fieldwork activities included semi-structured life history interviews with men who sell sex to men and individuals connected with the male sex industry, extensive observation in the spaces of male sex work, migrant labor markets and organizations involved in HIV-prevention among MSM, and historical inquiry into the evolution of the male sex industry. / I find that the existing framings of male prostitution in China do not adequately incorporate consideration of the social and economic processes that are shaping male sex work and men's participation in this industry. I argue that male sex work is more accurately seen by the men themselves as a job, whether temporary or professional, which for some offers the opportunity to engage in China's emerging urban gay communities and express sexual identity; and for others requires the inconvenience of (unwanted) sex in a process---not of survival in absolute terms---but of urban advancement and participation in modern, cosmopolitan China. I argue that the current growth and structure of the Chinese male commercial sex industry cannot be understood separately from its historical development, emergent issues surrounding gay or tongzhi identity formation and expression---including negotiating HIV/AIDS---and struggles for economic success within China's post-socialist market economy. I show how accounting for these connections and broadening the public health focus beyond government sponsored efforts on HIV-testing and education provides a more inclusive view of subpopulations of male sex workers.