Thesis advisor: Heather Rowan-Kenyon / Much of the research about college student engagement is based upon self-reported surveys, but little is known about how students formulate responses to these instruments. The purpose of this study was to specifically address this dearth of knowledge by deepening our understanding of how students’ perceptions of their environments and demographic characteristics influenced their response patterns on self-reported surveys. Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) human ecology model of development, Bourdieu and Passeron’s (1990) theory of social reproduction, and Tourangeau, Rips, and Rasinski’s (2000) four phase survey response process were used, as the theoretical framework to better understand this phenomenon. This was an explanatory sequential mixed methods study, and the participants were first-year undergraduate students at a four-year, private institution in New England. Students completed the College Student Report (CSR) as well as a series of time-use diaries, and the results of the instruments were compared using descriptive and multivariate analyses. Finally, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted, which included aspects of retrospective cognitive interviewing, with twenty-seven (27) students to understand how their experiences and response processes were shaped by their individual campus experiences and identities. Findings from this study suggest the construct validity of self-reported survey data measuring behavioral frequency patterns is questionable, as students statistically significantly under reported time spent preparing for class, engaging in co-curricular activities, commuting to campus, and relaxing and socializing. Furthermore, student characteristics such as racial/ethnic identity and satisfaction with college choice statistically significantly explained some of the variance in the reporting behaviors of students after controlling for other factors. This information coupled with the data gleaned from the semi-structured individual interviews indicate factors related to how students differentially experience the campus environment based upon their unique ecological niches affects how they respond on self-reported surveys, which means the data provided by such instrumentation is likely providing substantively different information than how it is most commonly interpreted and applied. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This study examined whether the disproportionality of African American children referred to special education is influenced by the level of implicit racial bias among teachers, using the aversive racism theory. Data were collected from teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade in the Iowa City Community School District through email recruitment. Using a factorial survey design, teachers evaluated five vignettes, each with five questions mirroring the referral process to special education, an implicit and explicit racial bias measure, and demographics. Of the 307 teachers emailed, only 21 completed the full survey. The small sample size hindered the analysis due to violations of two of the major assumptions of linear regression: normality and constant variance. Due to these violations, only limited interpretations can be concluded from the linear models. A logistic regression was also completed on the referral for special education dependent variable and yielded the following significant results: The teachers who scored high on the explicit racism measure were more likely to refer a child to a special education assessment and other results revealed associations between certain characteristics and behaviors of the children and their likelihood of referral. The majority of teachers in the sample (67%) scored high in implicit racial bias but none of the models indicates a relationship between the child's race and referral to special education. The study suggests there is some connection between implicit racial bias and referrals to special education but not due to race. However, the complexity of relationships among these and other factors in both interpersonal relationships and classroom dynamics makes it necessary to further investigate this question and potentially remedy the problem of disproportionality in special education.

Travelers' value of travel time savings (VTTS) are often used to estimate the benefits of transportation facilities, including managed lanes (MLs). With various eligibility criteria and time of day pricing on the MLs, the VTTS estimation is complicated. This is evident by the underestimation of VTTS on MLs in many of the previous studies. This study investigates stated preference (SP) survey design strategies and differentiating the VTTS for ordinary and some common urgent situations faced by the travelers in an attempt to improve on VTTS estimation on MLs. This study used three different survey design strategies (including a D-efficient design) in an internet based survey of Katy Freeway travelers. It was found that a random attribute level generation strategy, where the VTTS presented in the alternative was adjusted based on the answer to a previous SP question, performs better than the other two designs with respect to VTTS estimation and other survey design efficiency criteria. The analysis to differentiate the VTTS for ordinary and urgent trips was carried out using the state of art in the mixed logit model estimation. It was found that travelers value their travel time savings much more when facing most of these urgent situations rather than ordinary situations. Both peak and off-peak period travelers' VTTS were also found to be significantly greater when on urgent trips. Survey design attribute level ranges were found to significantly affect the VTTS estimation. Further, in order to understand the policy implications of these findings it was demonstrated that classifying all trips as ordinary can significantly underestimate the VTTS benefits offered by the MLs. Additionally, the VTTS of any urgent trips would be greatly underestimated. The study also demonstrated that many of the low and medium income group travelers on urgent trips can have VTTS greater than that of the highest VTTS traveler from the high income group on an ordinary trip. These findings have significant policy implications since the benefits of MLs (and of most transportation investments) are primarily derived from travel time savings. Underestimating the VTTS and hence the benefits for MLs can result in reducing the likelihood of funding such facilities. This study provides an important first step in the proper estimation of these benefits by suggesting modifications to SP surveys to better capture the influence of urgent trips on the value of a ML facility.

Conducting representative surveys of older people is challenging. This thesis aims to analyze a) the characteristics of individuals at risk of being underrepresented in surveys of older people, b) the systematic errors likely to occur as a result of these selections, and c) whether these systematic errors can be minimized by weighting adjustments.   In Study I, we investigated a) who would be missing from a survey that excluded those living in institutions and that did not use indirect interviews, b) how prevalence rates would be affected by these exclusions, and c) whether post-stratifying the data by sex and age (weighting adjustment) would correct for any systematic measurement error. In Study II, we compared mortality and hospitalization rates in those who responded to a postal questionnaire with rates in the target population. In addition, we tested whether a weighting variable created with a number of auxiliary variables could correct for the differences.   In Study III, we followed a longitudinal cohort sample for 43 years. By recalculating baseline characteristics at each follow-up, we investigated how the sample changed after a) selective mortality and b) survey non-participation. In Study IV, we investigated whether the systematic non-participation that is likely to occur in surveys of older people affects the association between education and health. In sum, the results of these four studies show that people in the oldest age groups, women, those of low socioeconomic position, and those with the poorest health tend to be underrepresented in surveys of older people. This systematic underrepresentation might lead to an underestimation of poor health and function, a bias that is unlikely to be corrected by weighting adjustments, and to an underestimation of health inequality between educational groups. The results also show that the selective mortality that occurs in longitudinal samples might be compounded by selective non-participation among the most disadvantaged groups. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

This research aims at developing a better understanding of commuters preferences and mode switching behaviour towards local transit for work trips. The proposed methodological approach incorporates three main stages. The first introduces a conceptual framework for modal shift maximized transit route design model that extends the use of demand models beyond forecasting transit ridership to the operational extent of transit route design. The second deals with designing and implementing a socio-psychometric COmmuting Survey for MOde Shift (COSMOS). Finally, the third stage focuses on developing econometric choice models of mode switching behaviour towards public transit. Advanced mode shift models are developed using state-of-the-art methodology of combining Revealed Preference (RP) and Stated Preference (SP) information. The results enriched our understanding of mode switching behaviour and revealed some interesting findings. Some socio-psychological variables have shown to have strong influence on mode shift and improved the models in terms of fitness and statistical significance. In an indication of the superiority of the car among other travel options, strong car use habit formation was realized for car drivers, making it hard to persuade them to switch to public transit. Further, unlike conventional choice models, the developed mode shift models showed that travel cost and in-vehicle travel time are of lower importance compared to other transit Level of Service (LOS) attributes such as waiting time, service reliability, number of transfers, transit technology, and crowding level. The results also showed that passengers are more likely to shift to rail-based modes (e.g. LRT and subway) than rubber-tyred modes (e.g. BRT). On the other hand, the availability of park-and-ride facilities as well as both schedule and real-time information provision did not appear to be significant for mode switching to public transit for work trips. This research provides evidence that mode shift is a complex process which involves socio-psychological variables beside common socio-demographic and modal attributes. The developed mode switching models present a new methodologically sound tool for evaluating the impacts of alternative transit service designs on travel behaviour. Such tool is more desirable for transit service planning than the traditional ones and can aid in precisely estimating transit ridership.

This research aims at developing a better understanding of commuters preferences and mode switching behaviour towards local transit for work trips. The proposed methodological approach incorporates three main stages. The first introduces a conceptual framework for modal shift maximized transit route design model that extends the use of demand models beyond forecasting transit ridership to the operational extent of transit route design. The second deals with designing and implementing a socio-psychometric COmmuting Survey for MOde Shift (COSMOS). Finally, the third stage focuses on developing econometric choice models of mode switching behaviour towards public transit. Advanced mode shift models are developed using state-of-the-art methodology of combining Revealed Preference (RP) and Stated Preference (SP) information. The results enriched our understanding of mode switching behaviour and revealed some interesting findings. Some socio-psychological variables have shown to have strong influence on mode shift and improved the models in terms of fitness and statistical significance. In an indication of the superiority of the car among other travel options, strong car use habit formation was realized for car drivers, making it hard to persuade them to switch to public transit. Further, unlike conventional choice models, the developed mode shift models showed that travel cost and in-vehicle travel time are of lower importance compared to other transit Level of Service (LOS) attributes such as waiting time, service reliability, number of transfers, transit technology, and crowding level. The results also showed that passengers are more likely to shift to rail-based modes (e.g. LRT and subway) than rubber-tyred modes (e.g. BRT). On the other hand, the availability of park-and-ride facilities as well as both schedule and real-time information provision did not appear to be significant for mode switching to public transit for work trips. This research provides evidence that mode shift is a complex process which involves socio-psychological variables beside common socio-demographic and modal attributes. The developed mode switching models present a new methodologically sound tool for evaluating the impacts of alternative transit service designs on travel behaviour. Such tool is more desirable for transit service planning than the traditional ones and can aid in precisely estimating transit ridership.

Transition plans and services can have positive benefits on post-school outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). School psychologists have much to contribute to the transition process, but previous studies have indicated they often have limited involvement in this domain. A national survey was conducted to assess school psychologists’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in regards to transition services for students with ID. Respondents included 176 practicing school psychologists from 21 states. Based on Ajzen’s (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the survey used in the study focused on school psychologists’ transition-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. To understand the role of school psychologists in transition services for students with ID, data collection and analyses addressed (a) the underlying factor structure of the transition survey; (b) the relationship between school psychologists’ frequency of involvement in transition services and their self-reported transition knowledge, attitudes towards transition activities, and background experiences; and (c) the relationship between school psychologists' perceived importance of transition tasks and their transition knowledge and background experiences. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to verify the survey’s factor structure, and three factors supporting the TPB framework were identified: Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviors. Scores for the instrument and subscales demonstrated acceptable reliability. A backward multiple regression was conducted with transition involvement as the criterion variable and respondents’ self-reported transition knowledge and attitudes, and background experiences as predictor variables. Attitude, knowledge, and previous experience with the ID population were found to be significant predictors of performance of transition tasks, accounting for 63.9% of the variance combined. A backward multiple regression also was conducted with attitudes toward transition as the criterion variable and respondents’ self-reported transition knowledge and background experiences as predictor variables. Knowledge was found to be the only significant predictor of respondents’ attitudes, accounting for 26.9% of the variance. Implications for practice and policy include increasing school psychologists’ specific knowledge of transition services and transition needs of students with ID, evaluating graduate programs and school districts’ openness towards school psychologists performing transition tasks, and advocating for special education reform to modify the roles and responsibilities of school psychologists.

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