The study proposed here is addressed to two of the most important problems facing teenagers and the adults who care about them today--alcohol and marijuana use. While previous studies have provided some answers about these problems, much remains to be acquired and learned. The study will gather the usual basic demographic and other data on teenage drinking and drug use; but, it will do more by testing a control theory model of substance use by adolescents. The significance of this study is that it will go beyond the description of amount and related variations to answer questions about differences existing between those who use these substances and those who do not. Major differences in the attachments of the individuals to conventional others, commitments to conventional institutions and goals, involvements in conventional activities, and beliefs in conventional society and goals between users and non-users will be compared and statistically tested. In this way we hope to provide empirically valid findings which should have relevance to existing or future drug and alcohol education or prevention programs. / The study will proceed as a secondary analysis of self-report questionnaires administered to male and female students in junior and senior high schools in a single school district. The questionnaires were administered in the classrooms during school hours by members of the research staff. Therefore, teachers were not asked to perform any duties in the administration of the questionnaire. A total population of seventh through tenth grade students and a random sample of eleventh and twelfth grade students were administered the questionnaire. The questionnaire involved only one class period. Protection of confidentiality and rights of students was provided. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-04, Section: A, page: 1315. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study was to examine four analytical methods and to illustrate by example any which seem to hold the potential for extracting additional knowledge from institutional research studies by means of their synthesis through meta-analysis; the measurement of the importance of their findings, through content analysis; the study of the relationships among their characteristics and findings, through multiple correspondence analysis; or the prioritization of research topics through the analytical hierarchy process. / A demonstration of the analytic hierarchy process was conducted within the context of a single institution in order to answer questions related to the worth of this process, its difficulty, and the time it requires. Results were compared for different questionnaire-types, for different process-judges, and for a "direct" process. The "forward" and the "clustering" approaches to simplify the prioritization were examined. / The demonstration of the analytic hierarchy process showed that the process was not so difficult to apply, and that the required time could be reduced. Other conclusions were that experienced faculty members are preferred for giving opinions on faculty workload issues, and that the prioritization changes according to area of knowledge. Moreover, the superiority of the computer-questionnaire over the paper-questionnaire was not conclusive. / The worth of this application should be assessed on the basis of the intrinsic nature of institutional research studies which generally cannot be generalized, and the two major difficulties reported by this research: the findings are (a) descriptive, and (b) highly diverse. These reasons precluded the integration of research findings by meta-analysis and also made useless the measure of the emphasis of research findings by content analysis. Meanwhile, the analytic hierarchy process overcame both difficulties and led to prioritizing the research topics. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3460. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

Despite the vast range of commentaries and research on the current health care crisis, little research attention has been focused specifically on physicians' attitudes, orientations, and reactions to innovations and/or change in the traditional methods of delivering medical care. In response to this hiatus in research, the present study examines the reactions of physicians' to the hypothetical development of a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in the community. An exploratory causal model is developed and analysis based upon a cross-sectional survey data set. The results indicate that one of the most important mediating variables in a causal chain leading to factors which account for physicians' reactions is the extent of agreement with basic structural problems (performance gaps) in the existing system. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 3293. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The study tested empirically the relationship of role expectations, goals, values and communication to organizational socialization at the entry stage. Entry congruencies of superior-subordinate expectations, goals, and values, plus subordinate satisfaction with organizational communication, were hypothesized as significant measures of "goodness of fit" of individuals and organizations. / Subjects, numbering 36, were new faculty of a state-supported, mid-sized university in northeastern United States. During their entry socialization stage (operationalized as the first semester of the new employment), subjects responded to five, time-spaced instruments. Nonparametric statistics were used to analyze the data. / Results of the study supported the hypotheses. Organizational communication proved to be the strongest single predictor of satisfactory socialization, accounting for more than 30% of the variance. Entry congruency of expectations and goals accounted for approximately 20%; so the three variables combined accounted for more than 50% of the variance in the entry socialization model. Value congruency, however, showed no significant relationship to entry socialization. / Theoretical implications of the study relate to development of a theory of organizational socialization. Spatiotemporal studies of both the pre-entry stage and metamorphosis stage of organizational socialization are recommended for use with the entry model developed in this study. Also suggested is extension of the role set of the newcomer to include peers as well as superiors. / Practical implications of the study concern improved hiring and orientation practices. / Mismatching of individuals and organizations is costly in time, money and morale. This study concluded that congruency of expectations and goals and satisfaction with organizational communication are reliable predictors of "goodness of fit" of the person to the job, and the job to the person. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-08, Section: A, page: 3783. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-09, Section: A, page: 5754. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-08, Section: A, page: 5086. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

This study provides a comprehensive and critical account of Herbert Blumer's methodology. Beginning with a reflexive look at its own program for reading, the study proposes to regard Blumer in light of the systematic character of his arguments, including especially their tenability. The ensuing account, then, attempts to depict the patterns of intelligibility which underlie Blumer's positions, to criticize the positions where needed, and to suggest corrective revisions where appropriate. / The characterization of Blumer's methodology begins with its general framework: Blumer regards methodology as a self-reflective exercise in which the principles underlying scientific inquiry are developed and criticized. This view clashes with all versions of "methodology" which delimit its scope to technical considerations; indeed, Blumer castigates such a truncated focus. / As regards the substantive results of his methodological thinking, Blumer's work presents a decidedly variegated visage. This is admittedly less so in ontological concerns--where Blumer adherred rather consistently to universalist realism--than in epistemological matters, where the diversity of Blumer's thinking requires the introduction of a developmental schema. Accordingly, the study proposes a three-stage sequence: Beginning in his first paper with a pragmatist-inspired position, Blumer shifted to a positivist stance centered upon the attempt to provide experiential definitions of concepts. Eventually Blumer simply deployed his positivist empiricism without making any effort to account for it theoretically--he replaced methodology with method. / But there is another facet of Blumer's work which, inconsistent with the reductive empiricism, is more suggestive for current methodological thinking. That facet concerns the semantic unity of theory and method. In such areas as public opinion research and "variable analysis," Blumer provides some insightful criticism of current practices. In expounding and defending this aspect of Blumer's work, the study advances suggestions for revamping his empiricism to bring it into line with what in his thinking is worth preserving. Toward that end the discussions turns upon such issues as the theory-ladenness of observation, theory-testing, the sociality of knowledge, and the valuational facet of scientific inquiry. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2835. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

This thesis investigates the role that philosophy and science play in Gramsci's Prison Notebooks. While there is growing recognition of the importance of philosophy in Gramsci's prison work, the importance of science and its relationship to philosophy often go unremarked. Yet both fields were important to Gramsci's prison project. The bulk of the thesis consists in a detailed philological study of the unabridged Italian edition of the Prison Notebooks by Valentino Gerratana which brings out the importance of both philosophy and science to Gramsci's work, as well as their inter-relationship. In fact a crucial part of Gramsci' work while in prison, the part belonging to a second and most productive phase of the prison work according to current scholarship on Gramsci, consists in an effort to reconstruct Marxism as a philosophy of praxis within which a special place was reserved for science. Gramsci in fact dealt extensively with both natural science in its relationship to philosophy and, even more importantly, with social sciences like economics and political science. This was in keeping with the insight that Marxism was born out of the encounter between philosophy, economics and politics, which constituted the three keystones of Marx's new theory for Gramsci. The first part of this thesis analyzes Gramsci's reconstruction of Marxism as a philosophy of praxis, examining how the foundational concepts of praxis and human nature were interpreted by Gramsci in such a way as to lay the foundations for his theory of science. It then considers this theory of science in detail, examining first the place that Gramsci's reflection on natural science played within his reconstruction of Marxism, then considering how he laid the foundations for economics and political science within Marxism. Two novel concerns emerge in this discussion: the centrality of social science to Gramsci's reconstruction of Marxism and the importance that the individual played in both his philosophy and in this social science, particularly in economics. / Cette thèse explore le rôle de la philosophie et de la science dans les Carnets de prison de Gramsci. Alors que l'importance de la philosophie dans les écrits de prison de Gramsci continue de gagner en reconnaissance, l'importance de la science et de son rapport avec la philosophie est souvent négligée. Ces deux champs de recherche sont toutefois aussi important l'un que l'autre dans le projet réalisé par Gramsci lors de ses années passées en prison. La plus grande partie de cette thèse consiste en une analyse philologique détaillée de la version italienne complète des Carnets de prison établie par Valentino Gerratana. Elle met en évidence la double importance de la philosophie et de la science dans les écrits de Gramsci et le rapport qui les unit. Effectivement, une part essentielle de l'oeuvre de prison de Gramsci, identifiée par la recherche portant sur Gramsci comme un second volet distinct et plus productif de ses écrits de prison, se présente comme un effort de reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis au sein de laquelle une place particulière est réservée à la science. En fait, Gramsci s'est largement intéressé aux sciences naturelles dans leur rapport avec la philosophie et, de manière plus importante encore, avec des sciences sociales comme l'économie et la science politique, et ce en cohérence avec l'idée que le marxisme est né de la rencontre de la philosophie, de l'économie et de la politique, les trois piliers de la nouvelle théorie de Marx chez Gramsci. Dans un premier temps, cette thèse analyse la reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis par Gramsci en examinant comment les concepts fondamentaux de praxis et de nature humaine sont interprétés par Gramsci de manière à jeter les bases de sa théorie de la science. La thèse s'intéresse ensuite à cette théorie de la science en détails, examinant d'abord la place des réflexions de Gramsci sur les sciences naturelles au sein de sa reconstruction du marxisme, puis en considérant la manière dont il établit les fondements de l'économie et de la science politique au sein du marxisme. Deux préoccupations nouvelles émergent de cette discussion : la centralité des sciences sociales dans la reconstruction du marxisme par Gramsci et l'importance de l'individu dans sa philosophie et dans ces sciences sociales, particulièrement en économie.

<p> Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth are disproportionately the targets of discrimination, hostility and violence (Kosciw et al, 2012). This pattern of oppression can follow LGBT youth onto the college campus, and play a shaping force in their development as young adults (Robison, 2011; Longerbeam et al, 2007). As compared to the larger campus population, LGBT students have to be constantly concerned for their safety and inclusion in all contexts of the college experience: residence halls, bathrooms, locker rooms, classrooms, and transportation, to name just a few (Fanucce &amp; Taub, 2010; Burney, 2012; Evans, 2002; Finkel et al, 2003). The treatment of LGBT youth and college students in school settings reflects the larger issues of a homophobic society. Instead of falling victim to the pathologizing effect of discussing issues of the LGBT community (Renn, 2010; Harper, Bashir &amp; Wilson, 2007), many LGBT youth and young adults have begun to stand and fight. It is within the confluence of a need for civic re-awakening of the present generation and action against LGBT oppression that college LGBT activism shines. </p><p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to take an exploratory approach to assessing and describing the experiences of a group of first year LGBT students forming an LGBT-focused social justice group titled the Queer &amp; Ally (Q&amp;A) Action Research Team at Northern Arizona University. Specifically, I examined the perceptions that these first year undergraduate students hold towards the LGBT movement, other social justice movements, and sustainability. Though just as importantly, I explore with students what led them to be passionate about LGBT rights, through exploring their experiences as youth and new college students, and how it shapes their civic participation in college. Through representing the voices of student participants, I provide key insights regarding how the students articulate their process of civic re-engagement as students beginning their journeys in higher education. </p><p> A participant observer method was adopted as a means to gain access to this unique group of students. Through collaborating and building rapport with the students of Q&amp;A, I conducted ten in depth, semi-structured interviews. Through the use of methodological triangulation (multiple participants, researcher journal), data triangulation (conducting interviews of a span of time and with multiple persons) analytic memos, member checking, peer checking, coding, structural analysis, thematic analysis and writing with rich, thick description, I analyzed the words shared by participants, and related them to pertinent literature and research sources. Findings of the study provide insight into students' experiences in the LGBT community and becoming engaged in LGBT activism, and highlight the difficulties, discrimination, and concerns for personal safety that many LGBT people are affected by. However, in the face of the difficulties that some participants shared, the students of Q&amp;Arepresent noteworthy resiliency, strength, and tenacity. The story of Q&amp;A in its first year of functioning represents a success story of students learning to support one another, and enacting meaningful change for the LGBT community and beyond.</p>

<p> This project proposes a program designed to reduce the likelihood of abuse to children with developmental disabilities by teaching and training their parents. It begins with the evidence of abuse of children with developmental disabilities. The causes behind higher than average abuse rates are enumerated. The correlation between parental stress and abuse is covered. Violence prevention programs for schools, inmates and children are reviewed for viability. Components of these programs may be useful for a program focused on children with developmental disabilities. Violence prevention programs that serve children with developmental disabilities are reviewed. Possible solutions for reducing stress in general and in relation to raising a child with developmental disabilities are addressed. </p>