Thesis advisor: Pratyusha Tummala-Narra / The purpose of this research is to learn about the racial identity development of White transracially adoptive parents through narratives about their adoption and parenting experiences. White racial identity development has rarely been explored within the context of transracial adoption, and existing research on transracial adoption tends to focus on the experiences of the adoptees. The present research attempts to address the need for more literature in psychology and other social sciences on the experiences of White parents adopting transracially. This research uses qualitative methodology, specifically narrative inquiry and conventional content analysis, to gather data from participants' (N=12) personal stories about their racial identity. This approach is inductive, naturalistic, and exploratory, focusing on participants' meaning making rather than causation, and fitting for an under-researched subject area (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Riessman, 2003). Narratives encourage the participants to talk about uncomfortable issues, which is critical, because literature indicates that White people experience discomfort when talking about their race (Altman, 2006; Foldy, 2005). As theoretical frameworks, White racial identity theory (Helms, 1990; 1995) and critical race theory help describe how parents cope with racial issues and racism from a psychosocial perspective. Issues examined include how institutional and cultural racism affects parents' experiences before and after parenting, what historical, social, and personal factors influence the parents' cognitive, affective and behavioral responses to racial stimuli, and how transformations take place in the racial identity development of the participants. Findings demonstrate that for the majority of participants, transracial adoption was a catalyst for increased awareness of White racial privilege and racism, and therefore for participants' racial identity development. This research contributes to theory, research, and practice. Participants' stories provide an understanding of the complex nature of racial identity development, and offer insight about how to better support transracially adoptive parents and their families. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

This thesis explores how, and to what extent, farm businesses are responding to changing demands on agriculture in terms of resource efficiency, entrepreneurship and understanding the role of soft technology in supporting these strategies. This is in response to a changing business environment which is challenging farming income streams and profitability. The research questions in this thesis are resolved by adopting a multi-method research strategy. This includes a survey of 738 Welsh Upland hill farmers from a population of 7,500, 10 semi-structured interviews and action research in the design, development and implementation of decision support systems. Together the methods address the issues of strategic stance, and technology adoption in agriculture. The study findings are intended to be useful for farm decision-makers, support and advisory bodies, and for informing policy in terms of farming approaches, technology infrastructure and farm resource management. The research outcomes presented in the main chapters provide, individually and in synthesis, a better understanding of farming strategies and the role of technology in assisting such strategies. Collectively, the multi-phased approach to the research topic identifies many important farm responses to the economic and political tensions facing agriculture. Farmers can decide on entrepreneurial and efficiency driven strategies whilst making the best use of resources and technology. The findings also show that the strategic objectives of farm decision makers are far more influential in technology adoption than the technology itself and therefore leadership and market maturity are key factors that must be considered as influencing the degree of technology adoption. Additionally, insights are provided regarding wider issues of ICT adoption amongst farmers with particular regard to barriers to technology adoption.

Information Technology Governance (ITG) is one of the most innovative practices through its provision of support for decision-makers in organisations. Interestingly, it has increasingly become a de facto strategy for organisations that are seeking to optimise their performance. ITG has emerged to support agencies in the integration of information technology (IT) infrastructures and the delivery of high-quality services. On the other hand, decision-making processes in public sector organisations can be multi-faceted and complex, and decision-makers play a major role in the adoption of innovation and technology in the government agencies. While formally adopting IT governance (ITG) has numerous reported benefits, many studies have shown that few organisations have adopted the ITG practice, particularly in the government sector. Therefore, this study attempts to identify and understand the dimensions that hinder ITG adoption and its successful use. The main objective of this research is to investigate and develop a theoretical model of the obstacles preventing formal ITG adoption, from both institutional and individual perspectives. Based on empirical evidence gathered via semi-structured interviews (n=32) with IT directors in government organisations as a qualitative inquiry, this study attempts to investigate institutional and individual dimensions that impact decision making for the adoption of ITG in the context of the public sector in development countries such as Oman. Furthermore, this study focuses on combining institutional and individual perspectives to explain how individuals can make decisions in response to institutional impacts via the integration of theories such as Institutional Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). It also explores the key dimensions that influence decision-making in the public sector concerning the adoption of ITG. The findings of this study illustrate and analyse the institutional and individual dimensions that impact on decisions for the adoption of ITG and contribute to the body of knowledge by highlighting the dimensions impacting decision-making for adopting ITG in public sector organisations. In doing so, this study contributes to better understand the applicability of integrating both TPB and IS theories to explore and develop a model of ITG adoption in the public sector organization and advances the scholarship by developing a more holistic model. This adoption has benefits such as reaching organisations' strategic goals, improving performance and conferring other competitive advantages. As a final point, this study advises accelerating the adoption of ITG to increase the efficiency, productivity and transparency of government work as well as to make available integrated smart electronic services. Further studies on the adoption of ITG in the public sector in different contexts, or comparative research, may help to develop a deep understanding of the value of ITG innovation in government organisations to enable evaluation of its significance in enhancing e-government.

"Fame" is a series of poems in four parts: A., B., C., and &. The first section explores both the concept of autobiography and adoption. The second section concerns itself with biographical poetry as it explores Boar Girl. The third section aims to rethink the confessional poem, and the final section is a playful engagement with music and literature.

This paper analyzes the various costs and benefits associated with the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, specifically with respect to Hungary, though much of the theory can be applied generally across all Central and Eastern European EU member states. It begins with an examination of factors that have potentially slowed Hungary's economic progress on the institutional and macroeconomic level. Next, the political origins and significance of the EMU are considered. EMU membership brings more than economic benefit; it is a symbolic achievement that a country has advanced to a position that allows it to be put in the same category as the more developed economies of the West, and also signals a step towards the “inner circle” of the European Union. Some of the theoretical foundations of monetary and currency unions are then presented: the optimum currency area theory (OCA), the exogeneity theory of OCA, the endogeneity theory of OCA, pro-cyclical fiscal policy as it applies to developing countries, costs of euro area accession, the effects of financial integration, and the effect of euro membership on foreign direct investment (FDI). Then, an empirical overview of how well the monetary union has functioned with respect to expectations is presented. After that, a comparison with Greece is made to determine whether the EMU would consider them as a member even if the criteria were met. Finally, a comparison of Hungary's economic data is juxtaposed with that of the Maastricht criteria.

The goal of this study is to identify and examine teachers' concerns regarding their use of the new adopted mathematics textbook. In Texas, middle school mathematics teachers are often given a great deal of flexibility in the decision to use or not to use textbooks in their classrooms. This provides an opportunity for discussion about the concerns of teachers regarding the use of the newly adopted textbook. This study focused on investigating the concerns of teachers in relation to the adoption of the new textbooks for their districts based their years of experience in teaching the same class and their involvement on using the same textbook. In addition, this study identified the source of support in implementing the new curriculum materials. The study utilized the Concern Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as its theoretical framework. A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design, incorporating a researcher-developed Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), was used to address the research questions. A qualitative analysis was used to explore the teachers needs related to the use of the new adopted textbook and to provide additional insights into the teachers' concerns. The answers of 147 middle school mathematic teachers were analyzed in addition to teachers' interviews. Overall, the study found that teachers' highest concerns are focused mainly on the management of their work and that they are still in the early stages of implementing the new textbook. Teaching experience proved to be an important factor in explaining teachers' concerns in the implementation. Teachers feel isolated and unsupported in their use of the new curriculum materials and they expressed the need for support from their schools and from textbook publishers, as well as the need for more time and training to become familiar with the new textbook's content. They also wanted evidence that the new textbook supports student learning. Recommendations from the study include the need for the schools and the textbook publishing companies to work with middle grade school mathematics teachers to enable them to implement the new curriculum materials (textbooks) in the classrooms.

Many fields of economics point to technology as the primary vehicle for change. Agencies pushing change often promote technology adoption to achieve their goals. To improve our understanding of how efforts to push new technologies should be focused, two studies are undertaken. The first study defines and tests for universality using meta-regression analysis on 170 analyses of agricultural production technologies. The second study, a case study on an emerging information technology - climate forecasts, examines how the timing of adoption affects the benefits. A factor exhibiting a systematic positive or negative effect on technology adoption is a universal factor. If the impact is the same regardless of location or technology type, the factor is strongly universal. The factor is weakly universal if the impact varies by location or technology type. Education and farm size are found to be weakly positive universal, age is found to be weakly negative universal, and outreach is not found to be a universal factor in the adoption of technology. These results indicate that technology-promoters may want to change their approach and focus on younger, more educated producers with larger farms. In the second study, an international wheat trade model incorporating climate variability is used to simulate different scenarios when wheat producers in the U.S., Canada, and Australia adopt ENSO-based forecasts for use in production decisions. Adoption timing and levels are varied across countries in the different scenarios. The results are highly consistent. Early adopters benefit the most, there is no incentive for more producers to adopt after 60% to 95% have adopted (meaning the adoption ceiling has been reached), and slower adoption corresponds to ceilings closer to 60% than 95%. Examining technology adoption from two angles provides a deeper understanding of the adoption process and aids technology-promoters in achieving their goals. In addition to focusing on younger, more educated producers with larger farms, technology-promoters wanting wide-spread adoption with high benefits need to push constituents to adopt early and fast.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2008. / Vita. Advisor: Mark M. Pitt. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-85).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) in 2004 states that a local education agency (LEA) may use a process that determines whether a child responds to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures to identify the child as having a specific learning disability and as eligible to receive special education services. One such process that LEAs are using is response to intervention (RTI). Typically, RTI has been conceptualized and implemented as a multitiered prevention and intervention instructional support system for struggling learners. The implementation of RTI requires practitioners’ knowledge and skill in the planning, development, and execution of its innovative, scientifically based research methods. Rogers’s (2003) diffusion of innovation model served as the framework for this study. Rogers’s 5 main steps in the innovation-decision process were examined: (a) knowledge, (b) persuasion, (c) decision, (d) implementation, and (e) confirmation. Through this lens, how the innovation-decision process influences educators and schools to adopt or not adopt multitiered instruction defined as RTI was examined. The study explored whether practitioners did adopt RTI; whether all 5 stages were implemented by the educators; and, if so, whether they were sequenced. The study also examined whether adoption occurred and all aspects of RTI were being adhered to. Despite an abundance of research and writings on the pedagogical implications related to RTI, largely due to recent federal policy, there is a paucity of research on RTI regarding the organizational complexity related to implementing RTI. This lack of inquiry of organizational processes and effects of RTI affects both general and special educators, and consequently students of all ages. / text