This study investigated the relationship between stages of the family life cycle during the early years of marriage and marital dissatisfaction. From this basic goal the following three hypotheses were derived and tested:I. Marital dissatisfaction for both husband and wife is less in the first stage than in the third stage of the family life cycle.II. For both husband and wife the ideal spouse concept is the same in stage one as in stage three of the family life cycle.III. For both husband and wife socially undesirable perceived spouse concepts are greater while socially desirable perceived spouse concepts are less in the third stage than in the first stage of the family life cycle.A questionnaire consisting of background information, the Locke-Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Scale, and the Interpersonal Check List was given to thirty couples in the first stage (newly married) of the family life cycle and thirty couples in the third stage (oldest child of preschool age) of the family life cycle. Stree statistical methods were used to interpret the data collected: (1) chi-square, (2) t-test, and (3) Pearsonian correlation coefficient.

The accountability of marketing investments continues to be a key area of concern for researchers and practitioners (MSI Research Priorities, 2008). In particular, market-based assets, specifically customer relationships, and their potential impact on firm performance are a significant source of interest. Though research in this area continues to grow, little is understood about how investments in human capital and the acquisition of alliance partners through factor markets relate to customer relationship management and the impact of customer relationships on performance. This dissertation presents two studies which, together, investigate how investments in market-based assets influence on abnormal stock returns. In the first study, the resource-based view of the firm (Barney 1991) is used to posit several hypotheses related to investments in human capital. The hypotheses are tested using ten years of data from the U.S. airline industry and analyzed using a mixed-effects methodology. Results indicate that investments in customer service personnel impact abnormal stock returns through their impact on customer relationships. Moreover, these investments tend to have decreasing returns in terms of their impact on customer relationships, and the relative strength of this relationship is shown to be contingent upon a firm's service delivery capabilities, advertising expenditures, and operating focus. This study helps clarify how market-based assets are managed, how investments in specific resources used to manage them relate to stock returns, and why the same dollar invested in human capital by different firms can lead to different levels of returns. The second study also takes a resource-based view of the firm and the management of market-based assets. From this perspective, alliances are considered as external resources acquired in strategic factor markets (Barney 1986) for the purpose of complimenting a focal firm's strategy and performance. This study investigates the long-term impact of alternative types of alliances and the potential impact of alliance partners' customer relationship management capabilities on a focal firms' performance. Just as in study one, ten years of U.S. airline data are used, and a mixed-effects methodology is implemented to test hypotheses. Results indicate that the direct benefits of horizontal marketing alliances tend to be positive, but dependent upon the extensiveness of the alliance. Furthermore, it is revealed that the impact of a partner's customer relationship management capabilities on a focal firm's performance is contingent upon whether the partner's capabilities are similar or dissimilar relative to the focal firm. In short, results indicate that when differences exist, the positive impact of a focal firm's customer relationship management capabilities can be reduced to almost zero if that firm allies with a less competent partner. Taken together, these studies tend to suggest that firms which learn to successfully manage investments in customer relationships may risk nullifying expected positive returns if they simultaneously select alliance partners which are less successful at managing such investments. Similarly, firms which are not able to improve their own management of customer relationships can potentially limit the potential negative consequences by allying with more able firms. In all, this dissertation helps address the accountability issue for marketers.

Although experiential prescribing maxims are quoted in some optometric textbooks their content varies significantly and no direct research evidence was available to support their use. Accordingly in chapters 2 and 3, the uses of several potential prescribing rules were investigated in the UK optometric profession. Our results indicated that the subjective refraction result exerted a strong hold on the prescribing outcome with 40-85% of optometrists prescribing the subjective result in a variety of scenarios. The finding that after 40 years qualified, experienced optometrists were three times more likely to suggest a partial prescription was an important discovery that provides significant support for the prescribing rules suggested by various authors. It would also appear from the results of the retrospective evaluation of the ¿if it ain¿t broke, don¿t fix it¿ clinical maxim in Chapter 4 that spectacle dissatisfaction rates could be reduced by between 22 to 42% depending on how strictly the maxim is interpreted by the practitioner. Certainly an ¿if it ain¿t broke, don¿t fix it much¿ maxim was suggested as being particularly appropriate. Chapter 5 included a reanalysis of previously published data that found no change in falls rate after cataract surgery to investigate any influence of refractive correction change and /or visual acuity change on falls rate. Unfortunately these data were not sufficiently powered to provide significant results. In chapter 6, a spectacle adaptation questionnaire (SAQ) was developed and validated using Rasch analysis. Initial studies found no differences in SAQ with gender or age. / College of Optometrists

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Negative body image can cause serious psychological problems. In some Western societies, body image concerns can develop at a young age, with early preadolescents preferring thinner bodies and reporting body dissatisfaction. The aims here were to clarify the significant gaps in published research, and to challenge existing assumptions around weight, muscularity, and body satisfaction in children. In addition, this novel research focused on young children’s body dissatisfaction, particularly young boys (aged 4-11 years). Traditional measures of body satisfaction are limited and do not incorporate muscularity, assess individual body parts, or indicate the direction of dissatisfaction. Here, new visual measures were developed along with a prototype application for a touch-screen tablet to measure body satisfaction in children. Through 4 innovative experimental studies the current research explored factors influencing body image: including gender, age, ethnicity, BMI, perceived body size, and sociocultural factors (e.g. cultural ideals and body size stereotypes). Results consistently supported the findings of study 1 which showed gender differences in body satisfaction: boys were more dissatisfied with their bodies than girls, and their dissatisfaction varied over the different body parts (torso, arms and legs). Stereotypical idealised body perception was evident: boys wanted to be muscular and girls desired to be lean. In study 2, ideal body choices saw boys choosing more muscular figures and girls more lean figures for the self, than the ones they choose for another boy or girl. Boys desired more muscular ideal figures than what they perceived the opposite sex would choose. Study 3 revealed the pattern of assigning positive attributes was gendered. Boys viewed the hypermuscular figure the most positively and girls the normal weight and lean figures the most positively. However, both sexes did not want to look like the overweight figure as a child or adult. Study 4 showed parent’s body satisfaction and their perception of their child’s current body size predicted child’s body satisfaction, and exposure to media predicted the child’s ideal and future ideal adult figure choices. Overall, a combination of factors involved in the development of children’s body image were revealed, including sociocultural influences, age, ethnicity, and perceived body size. The research carried out within this thesis has extended our knowledge of pre-adolescent’s body dissatisfaction, has developed innovative measures for use with younger children, and revealed fascinating findings around young boys’ body image.

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