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In this dissertation, Essay 1 draws upon agency theory and corporate governance to classify control enhancing corporate governance provisions and to examine the use of these provisions within the context of publicly traded family firms. I argue that publicly traded family firms will differ from publicly traded nonfamily firms in terms of the frequency of the use of different types of control enhancing governance provisions. Specifically, I argue that family ownership will influence the frequency of the use of provisions and family management will moderate the relationships between family ownership and the frequency of the use of governance provisions. I develop and test the hypotheses on a sample of 386 of S&P500 firms. Findings do not support the hypothesized relationships. A rationale for the non-significant relationships is also provided. In Essay 2, drawing upon agency theory and the extant family governance literature, I examine the link between family involvement, the use of governance provisions, and firm performance. I suggest that the frequency of the use of different types of control enhancing governance provisions differentially influence the relationship between family involvement (i.e. family ownership and family management) in the business and firm performance. I develop and test the hypotheses on 386 of the S&P500 firms. Findings support the hypotheses suggesting the moderation effects of (a) the frequency of the use of provisions protecting controlling owners in terms of their sustainability of controlling status on the inverted u-shaped relationship between family ownership and firm performance, (b) the frequency of the use of provisions protecting management legally on the inverted u-shaped relationship between family ownership and firm performance, (c) the frequency of the use of provisions protecting controlling owners in terms of their voting rights on the inverted u-shaped relationship between family management and firm performance, (d) the frequency of the use of provisions protecting noncontrolling owners on the inverted u-shaped relationship between family management and firm performance, and (e) the frequency of the use of provisions protecting management monetarily on the inverted u-shaped relationship between family management and firm performance. Finally, results, future research directions, and implications for practice are discussed.

This study explored how a multicultural/multilingual school negotiated culture with limited English proficient (LEP) students' families, particularly in the context of parent involvement activities. In order to understand how such negotiation of culture occurred, the researcher focused on the perspectives that school administrators, teachers and parents of students in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program had on the education of LEP students and their parents' involvement in school-organized activities. It also focused on the participants' understandings of cultural capital and the extent to which the school builds on immigrant /sojourner families' knowledge and culture to support their children's education. In this ethnographical study, the researcher used a variety of data collection procedures: a questionnaire for teachers and parents, document analysis, interviews, and participant observation. While results from the questionnaires show that teachers and parents had similar views of LEP student education and parent involvement, more detailed information gathered through interviews and observations show that school personnel and immigrant/sojourner parents held different perspectives and expectations. Moreover, the results revealed that cultural capital, social class, and parents' educational attainment level influence the way parents understand the academic and social expectations of the school's dominant culture and their interactions with school personnel. Likewise, cultural biases influence school administrators and teachers' perceptions and interactions with parents from ethnic/linguistic minority groups.

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This study examined predictors of community involvement among Liberians in Johnson City, Tennessee. This study was exploratory in nature and used a social survey employing closed-ended questions. Using cross-tabulation analysis, results derived from a random sample (n = 62) of respondents indicate that persons who were older, married with children, employed, more religious, members of the Mande Fu ethnic group, and/or tended toward very liberal or conservative views had the highest rates of community participation. Predictors of types of community participation were also analyzed, the most significant of which was the higher prevalence of males in leadership roles and females in the provision of services and sundry items. The significance of these findings for community empowerment among Liberians in Johnson City was briefly discussed.

Objective To identify characteristics of dietitians who serve as leaders in the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and their managers, and to compare them to registered dietitians not in volunteer leadership roles and their managers. Design A cross-sectional survey of volunteer leaders and those who have never volunteered as leaders in ADA. Subjects/setting The study sample included elected officers in ADA and executive board members of ADA state affiliates (volunteer leaders) (n=259) and their managers (n=115), as well as a sample of registered dietitians not in ADA leadership roles (control) (n=273) and their managers (n=221). Statistical analyses performed The variables examined include employment, personal, and professional demographics, as well as leadership characteristics and manager support. Professional Enrichment and Manager Support Scores were calculated by summing responses to pertinent questions. Descriptive statistics, General Linear Model, and Chi Square tests were used to examine relationships between variables of interest. Results A significantly greater number of volunteer leaders had advanced degrees, were employed as university/college faculty, and were over the age of 45 compared with the control group (Χ2, pConclusions Although there were significant demographic differences between volunteer leaders and the control group in areas of education, employment setting, and age, there are no indications that these differences make it inherently more difficult to volunteer. Having a family does not seem to negatively affect the ability of people to volunteer in ADA. Managers of volunteer leaders verbally or nonverbally show support for their employees to spend time volunteering. Volunteer leaders seem to have a desire to volunteer which cannot be explained by demographic differences from those who choose not to volunteer.

Parental involvement in children’s education has been a topic for discussion among educators and researchers for decades worldwide. Studies have shown the positive relationships between parental involvement and children’s education outcome. Yet, there is a gap between what is found in theory and what is practiced in schools. This project investigates the role that teachers can play in the integration and involvement of parents with culturally, linguistically and economically diverse families in the education of their children with a particular focus on immigrant parents. Furthermore, it highlights challenges faced by both teachers and parents regarding parents’ involvement in their children’s education. This research focuses upon a local school in Malmö. It is a qualitative study which explores parental involvement from the teachers’ perspective through semi-structured interviews with three teachers who work in an elementary school in Malmö city. The findings of this project highlighted the complexity within the relationships between parents and their children’s education, both at home, and as well as in connection with school. It has been found that the teachers understand the position of the parents through a deficit theory, which is to place the blame for children’s failure in school on their homes and families. Reasons for this includes parents’ attitudes and approaches to school, parents’ expectations that the school should deal with issues regarding students’ learning, differences in school systems between Sweden and the parents’ home country.

The study of the subjective gameplay experience spans multiple disciplines, from teachers who want to harness the power of gameplay to enhance instruction to game developers hoping to create the next big hit. Despite decades of interest, little agreement has been found regarding the way constructs—such as immersion, involvement, presence, and flow—are used to describe the subjective gameplay experience. Without the consistent usage of well-defined constructs, it becomes impossible to further scientific understanding of this domain. This dissertation examined the theoretical evolution of the key subjective gameplay experience constructs. From this, definitions for immersion, involvement, presence, and flow were extracted. Based on the prior work of Brockmyer et al. (2009), a revised game engagement model was created that incorporated these definitions. To test the proposed relationships within the revised game engagement model, experienced players of the computer game Minecraft were recruited for an experimental study. The participants played the game Minecraft, which was manipulated with respect to both level of difficulty and immersive aspects. This allowed for a range of potential game engagement states to be experienced by the participants. Several individual differences hypothesized to influence the different constructs of game engagement also were measured. The results of the study supported many proposed aspects of the revised game engagement model and revealed ways in which the model could be further refined. The theoretically-derived definitions and revised game engagement model resulting from this work, along with the suggested measures for these relevant constructs, provides a framework for future work in this area. This framework will improve the consistency of construct operationalization, benefiting the continued study of the subjective gameplay experience.

This thesis examines the way in which the United States formulated its policy toward Greece during the Greek civil war (1943-1949). It asserts that U.S. intervention in Greece was based on circumstantial evidence and the assumption of Soviet global intentions, rather than on dispatches from the field which consistently reported from 1943-1946 that the Soviets were not involved in that country’s affairs. It also maintains that the post-Truman Doctrine American policy in Greece was in essence, a continuation of British policy there from 1943-1946, which meant to impose an unpopular government on the people of Greece, and tolerated unlawful violence of the extreme Greek right-wing

In 2005, the nation's minority groups totaled 98 million, or 33% of the country's total population. According to the U.S Census Bureau News (2007), Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the country with 14.8% of the total population and 44% of the minority population. The same report indicated that the Hispanic population accounted for almost half (48%) of the national population growth between 2005 and 2006, yet, students from minority backgrounds, including ethnically diverse students for whom English is their second language, exhibit lower academic achievement when compared to the majority group (Lyon et al., 2001). Low academic achievement among students from minority backgrounds can influence their school placement. Approximately 37% of all students receiving special education services in 2002 were ethnically diverse (National Center of Educational Statistics, 2002). Concerned with the significant gap between the achievement of children from minority backgrounds and students from the majority group, Congress amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2001. NCLB requires public schools to demonstrate acceptable progress for all students, including those who are culturally and linguistically diverse and those with disabilities. NCLB also promotes and supports greater parent involvement (Wright, Wright, & Heath, 2004) and requires schools to report on students' progress by subgroup (i.e., ethnicity, disability, English language learners, and low-income). Because the majority of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds are Hispanic (Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, Passel, & Herwantoro, 2005), a high percentage of students with disabilities are from minority groups (Hosp & Reschly, 2004), about 77% of English language learners are from Hispanic descent (Klingner, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006), and approximately half of school-age children of immigrants are from low-income homes (Hernandez, 2004), it is important for schools to take a closer look at the specific needs of Hispanic families of children with disabilities in order to promote their participation in the education of their children. The purpose of this study was to research the influence of components incorporated into a series of workshops specifically designed for Hispanic families of children with disabilities and to study the effect that participating in the workshops would have on parents' knowledge about their children's Individualized Education Program (IEP) and on their level of involvement in their children's education. TENFEE: Talleres en Español para las Necesidades de Familias en Educacion Especial (Spanish Workshops for the Needs of Families in Special Education) delivered five workshops where a series of components were provided to counteract the most frequently identified barriers in the involvement of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) parents in the education of their children with special needs: (a) complexity of disability, (b) language barriers, (c) cultural differences, and (d) socioeconomic status (Fix & Passel, 2003; Kalyanpur & Harry, 2004; Quezada, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2003). Thirty-seven parents or primary caregivers of students receiving special education services in three school districts in central Florida participated in the study. Before and after the workshops, participants completed a three-part survey in which they gave demographic information, responded to 50 multiple choice test questions related to the IEP process, and answered 10 open-ended questions related to their involvement in their children's education. Participants also completed an evaluation at each of the workshops indicating which of the workshop's components influenced their decision to participate. Finally, participants' children's teachers completed the Parent/Family Involvement Index (P/FII) before and after participating in the workshops. The P/FII is a measure of parent involvement in their children's special education services as perceived by their children's teachers. Following data collection, quantitative statistical analysis was completed using descriptive statistics to examine if TENFEE's components supported the participation of the targeted population to the workshops. A Paired Sample t-test was calculated to evaluate any differences in participants' IEP knowledge survey test scores before and after the workshops as well as differences in teachers' P/FII scores before and after the workshops. Multiple Regressions were conducted to determine if participants' demographic characteristics influenced IEP knowledge survey test scores and/or P/FII scores.