Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2007. / "Publication number: AAT 3295549."

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Philosophy, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Phillip L. Ackerman; Committee Chair: Ruth Kanfer; Committee Member: Gary J. Lautenschlager; Committee Member: Lawrence R. James; Committee Member: Richard Catrambone. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-92). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, xii, 260 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-195). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2005. / Vita. Thesis advisor: Russell M. Church. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-107). Also available online.

This study investigated how and why individuals chose various post-high school destinations. Theoretical frameworks based on Härnqvists (1978) conceptualization of the determinants of educational choice, rational choice theory as depicted by Elster (1986, 1989a, 1989b), and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977c, 1979, 1986, 1990b) were used to examine 1) the complex of individual and institutional influences of educational choice, 2) the processes underlying the decisions people made in choosing whether or not to pursue a post-secondary education, and 3) how students in the midst of the transition from high school to various post-high school destinations perceived these processes. Central to these analyses are the concepts of cultural capital, primary and secondary social capital, beliefs about and dispositions toward post-secondary education, academic capital, and enabling capital in relation to post-high school status. This research, conducted in British Columbia, has undertaken two kinds of examination: 1) the exploration of choices made by a large sample of recent high school graduates (n5345), as reported on a survey questionnaire and enriched by corresponding Ministry of Education linked data and 2) two sets of intensive, focused interviews conducted with a sample of Grade 12 students (n51) who were in the process of making choices about post-high school destinations. Three different types of analyses were conducted to explore the choice process. First, discrirninant function analyses were carried out to determine which individual and institutional determinants of educational choice, as depicted by Härnqvist, best predicted post-high school group membership (non-participant, non-university participant, university participant). Second, structural equation modelling using LISREL VI was employed to unravel the processes, as depicted in a model of Post-high School Status, that led to differential group membership. Finally, interviews with Grade 12 students were carried out to explore students perceptions of these processes. In the first discrirninant analysis, non-participants and participants in postsecondary education comprised the dichotomous grouping variable. Employing the variables included in Härnqvists framework, 74% of the non-participants and 79% of the participants could be correctly classified into their respective groups. The most powerful predictor was curricular differentiation, followed by level of education expected, total number of awards received, and primary social capital (parental influence variables). In a second discriminant analysis with non- university and university participants as the grouping variable, and based on the same set of predictors, the type of post-secondary institution attended was correctly predicted for 81% of university participants and 75% of non-university participants. High school grade point average most strongly predicted group membership, followed by curricular differentiation and level of education expected. Primary social capital (parental influence variables) or secondary social capital (influence of school personnel and peers) were not useful predictors in this analysis. In a three group discriminant analysis (non-participant, non-university participant, and university participant), the first function distinguished among these three groups on academic capital variables, disposition variables, and parents as sources of cultural capital, and the second discriminant function distinguished among the groups on primary and secondary social capital variables and number of academic awards received. Based on Härnqvist’s schema, 81% of university participants, 50% of non-university participants, and 67% of non-participants were correctly classified. Analyses by gender were also reported for each discriminant analysis. In the second type of analysis, a theoretical model of Post-high School Status was tested using LISREL VI. Strong positive relationships were demonstrated to exist between academic capital and post-high school status, and between dispositions toward post-secondary education and academic capital, for both males and females. The effect of parents as sources of cultural capital on dispositions toward post-secondary education was moderate, for both males and females. The total effects of parental transmission of cultural and social capital on post-high school destinations was significant. In these analyses, 58% of the variance in post- high school destination for the male sample and 54% of the variance for the female sample was explained. In the third analysis, the processes of educational choice were further explored through interviews with Grade 12 students. Of particular theoretical interest were differences in students’ long term dispositions toward post-secondary education, beliefs about post-secondary education, and how parents as sources of primary social capital enabled their children to pursue higher education. It was concluded that the treatment of two disparate strands of thinking (rational choice theory and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice) as complementary rather than competing provide a coherent account of how students made choices about post-high school destinations. The theoretical frameworks developed for this study hold potential as a first step in revitalizing the investigation of equality of educational opportunity. Implications for further research, theory development, and policy directions are offered. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This research examines the impact of Decision Support Systems (DSS) on the decision making process for preferential choice tasks. The potential impact of DSS on the decision process is evaluated in terms of how the system alters the decision maker's cognitive load. Competing hypotheses are developed based on the possible objectives of the decision maker with respect to decision effort and decision quality. One line of reasoning assumes that the DSS will be used in such a way as to maximise decision quality. The other asserts that the use of the DSS will be geared towards effort conservation. These hypotheses about the impact of the DSS on the decision process are tested in three experiments. The three studies employed concurrent verbal protocols to capture data about the decision process. In experiment 1 subjects were placed in either and aided or unaided decision setting and given problems of either five or ten alternatives from which to make a choice. The results showed that decision strategy changed as a results of the use of the decision aid. In general, subjects behaved as effort minimisers. There were no significant effects related to the amount of information processing. Experiment 2 was similar to experiment 1 except that subjects were given problems with either ten or twenty alternatives. The results were consistent with, though stronger than those of experiment 1. Almost all aided group subjects used Elimination by aspects strategy while the unaided group used a Conjunctive strategy. This is consistent with the notion of effort minimisation. There were no significant differences in the amount of information processing Experiment 3 was designed to test whether the results in experiments 1 and 2 were a due to the tendency of decision makers to minimise effort or because the aid was not powerful enough to induce additive processing. In this study the DSS was altered to both increase the support for the additive difference strategy and reduce support for the elimination by aspects approach. The results of experiment 3 show that decision makers tend to adapt their strategy to the type of decision aids available. There is evidence that if additive strategies are made sufficiently less effortful to use they will be employed. Similarly, when the degree of effort to follow a particular elimination strategy is manipulated decision makers tend to adapt in such a way as to minimise effort. Overall the results of the three experiments are consistent in demonstrating the adaptivity of decision makers to the types of support tools available to them. This adaptivity centres around the minimisation of decision effort. It appears that decision makers are highly conscious of the effort required to make decisions and work in such a way as to minimise that expenditure. When faced with the use a decision aid they appear to calibrate their own decision effort to that provided by the decision aid. There is some evidence that sufficient changes in the relative effort required to use various strategies can lead decision makers to follow more effortful approaches than they might otherwise consider. The precise nature of this effort-accuracy relationship needs to be studied more closely. The basic contribution of the dissertation has been to provide a formal approach for the study of DSS, based on concepts drawn from behavioural decision theory and information processing psychology. This work also has implications for behavioural decision theorists, consumer researchers and practical implications for the development of DSS in preferential choice settings. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate