abstract: Methods to test hypotheses of mediated effects in the pretest-posttest control group design are understudied in the behavioral sciences (MacKinnon, 2008). Because many studies aim to answer questions about mediating processes in the pretest-posttest control group design, there is a need to determine which model is most appropriate to test hypotheses about mediating processes and what happens to estimates of the mediated effect when model assumptions are violated in this design. The goal of this project was to outline estimator characteristics of four longitudinal mediation models and the cross-sectional mediation model. Models were compared on type 1 error rates, statistical power, accuracy of confidence interval coverage, and bias of parameter estimates. Four traditional longitudinal models and the cross-sectional model were assessed. The four longitudinal models were analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using pretest scores as a covariate, path analysis, difference scores, and residualized change scores. A Monte Carlo simulation study was conducted to evaluate the different models across a wide range of sample sizes and effect sizes. All models performed well in terms of type 1 error rates and the ANCOVA and path analysis models performed best in terms of bias and empirical power. The difference score, residualized change score, and cross-sectional models all performed well given certain conditions held about the pretest measures. These conditions and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Statistics / Gary Gadbury / Researches in the fields in science and statistics often go beyond the two-variable cause-and-effect relationship, and also try to understand what connects the causal relationship and what changes the magnitude or direction of the causal relationship between two variables, predictor(T) and outcome (Y). A mediator (Z) is a third variable that links a cause and an effect, whereby T causes the Z and Z causes Y. In general, a given variable may be said to function as a mediator to the extent that it accounts for the relation between the predictor and the outcome (Baron and Kenny, 1986). The initial question regards the appropriate characterization of a mediation effect. Most studies, when comparing one or more treatments focus on an average mediating effect. This average mediating effect can be misleading when the mediating effects vary from subject to subject in the population. The primary focus of this research is to investigate individual mediating effects in a population, and to define a variance of these individual mediating effects. A concept called subject-mediator (treatment) interaction is presented and its role in evaluating a mediator’s behavior on a population of units is studied. This is done using a framework sometimes called a counterfactual model. Some common experimental designs that provide different knowledge about this interaction term are studied. The subgroup analysis is the most common analytic approach for examining heterogeneity of mediating effects. In mediation analysis, situations can arise where Z and Y cannot both be measured on an individual unit. We refer to such data as terminal measures data. We show a design where a mediating effect cannot be estimated in terminal measures data and another one where it can be, with an assumption. The assumption is linked to the idea of pseudo-replication. These ideas are discussed and a simulation study illustrates the issues involved when analyzing terminal measures data. We know of no methods that are currently available that specifically address terminal measures data.

The study aims to discover the strategies and techniques used by community mediators in the People's Republic of China. Previous research argues that mediator legitimacy in China draws on state authorization and the mediator's community standing. In contrast to Western conceptions of the mediator's role as a neutral facilitator of dispute resolution, research suggests that Chinese mediators openly speak on behalf of community norms, calling on disputants to subordinate personal preferences in the interest of maintaining harmonious relationships and governmental policies and legal regulations. The legitimacy of the mediation process depends more on a persuasive articulation of community norms than an impression of mediator neutrality. However, this account of Chinese mediation has been based solely on interview and questionnaire data. How (and whether) this contrast between self-report measures and mediation techniques in practice actually manifests itself in mediator discourse, at what stages, and to what degree has not really been observed or analyzed. This study records and analyzes community mediation cases to better understand what features are prevalent in mediation discourse. Cases were selected in both rural and urban areas. Discourse analysis is applied to transcripts so as to provide direct and detailed picture of how mediation is conducted in reality. Strategies typical of Chinese mediation, relative to American mediation are identified and illustrated with excerpts from the transcripts. Neutrality and power distribution are discussed and compared with their roles in American mediation. Their implications for political, social and cultural aspects are drawn to provide a glimpse of contemporary Chinese society and how resolution is created. Future research directions are pointed out with regard to mediator's gender difference, the location where the mediation happens (urban and rural) and the socio-economic class of disputants (e.g., migrant workers) involved in the mediation.

The case of Baby MB (An NHS Trust v MB (A child represented by the CAFCASS as Guardian ad Litem) [2006] EWHC 507 (Fam) [2006] 2FLR 319 reveals some of the difficulties faced by persons of faith when they are involved in legal proceedings in the English law courts. It raises the question of whether faith is relevant when decisions are taken in court, and if so how it is relevant. What high profile healthcare cases like this also illustrate is that there are legal cases that involve not just legal issues, but also ethical and faith issues. However, when these cases come to court they are framed as though they are primarily legal disputes that require a purely legal solution. While judges address the legal issues, they are reluctant to address the ethical and faith issues, and if they do address the ethical and faith issues, they address them in strictly legal terms. These difficulties are not restricted to one faith but encompass all faiths, and they are not restricted to litigants but also include representatives of Christian churches who make submissions to court. Although the difficulties are often revealed in healthcare cases they are not restricted to these cases but include other types of legal case and extend to employment tribunals. These cases raise important questions about how courts and tribunals deal with persons of faith, how we understand conflict and resolve disputes, the nature and aim of law, the relationship between law, ethics and religion, the role of judges, and how we perceive and deal procedurally with cases that involve issues of faith. This thesis will explore these issues, and discuss whether room can be made for faith in English Dispute Resolution proceedings, and if so, how this might be accomplished.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

MA, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand / This paper studies the North Korean Six-Party Talks This negotiation concerned the denuclearisation of North Korea. This is the overarching goal of the Six-Party Talks – to get North Korea to denuclearise. However, each party has their own personal objective that they would like to achieve. The paper discusses the negotiation process by looking at the strategies utilised by the members to achieve their outcomes, as well as the intervening variables (culture and environment) that affect the strategy and outcome of talks. However, the goal of this paper is to design a model based on the Six-Party Talks to simulate future negotiated outcomes. The paper does not purport that the Six-Party Talks is successful, as this cannot be claimed until the talks come to a close. What it does argue is that the talks have achieved a measure of success, proven by the achievement of two agreements and its continuance. Therefore, the paper believes that the Six-party negotiation is moving towards success. With that said, the paper examines the applicability of the model by discussing it with regards to the minor case study, Iran. This paper is distributed into six sections. Section One, is the Introduction, it situates the research problem. Section Two and Three, is Chapters One and Two respectively. Chapter obstacles to negotiating. Section Four and Five, is Chapters Three and Four respectively. Chapter Three is dedicated to the main case study the North Korean Six-Party Talks, it looks at the context in which the talks are occurring, as well as the delegates involved and their objectives for the negotiations. It then discusses the strategies used in the negotiation and then depicts the model. Chapter Four focuses on Iran, discussing the context of talks with Iran by the various concerned parties and following this is the discussion of the model with respect to Iranian talks. The Sixth and Final section, Section Six is the Conclusion which draws a close the discussion of the Six-Party Talks. One explores negotiations, from the definition of negotiation to the theories applied in negotiation. While, Chapter Two discusses negotiation strategy, by looking at the styles and tactics used in negotiations, as well as the influence of culture on negotiations and the that began in 2003 and are still ongoing.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology

Addressing a perceived absence of critical attention to changes in the war film brought about by the advent of the digital, this thesis aims to construct an original study of contemporary (post-2001) US war cinema by exploring the shifting relationship between embodiment, subjectivity and digital (military-technological) mediation. In order to update the critical framework necessary for comprehending how the war film is altered by the remediation of digitised military interfaces, I draw on a highly diverse set of approaches ranging from journalistic accounts of the wars in Iraq (2003-11) and Afghanistan (2001-present), studies of military technologies from Paul Virilio to Derek Gregory and Pasi Väliaho, as well as film/media studies work on ethics and spectatorship. The corpus is similarly diverse, encompassing mainstream genre films such as Zero Dark Thirty (2012), documentaries, and gallery installations by Omer Fast and Harun Farocki, thus offering a comprehensive and inclusive portrait of contemporary cinematic trends. The thesis begins by identifying the genre's post-Vietnam turn to embodied, subjective experience and explores the continuation of this tendency through films such as The Hurt Locker (2008) and its complicity with phenomena such as journalistic embedding. Subsequently, I trace how drones and simulations radically alter conventional cinematic constructions of subjective perceptual experience through readings of Omer Fast's Five Thousand Feet is the Best (2011) and Harun Farocki's Serious Games (2009-10), noting in particular the emergence of the virtualised yet embodied 'presence' of the drone operator and the conditioning of trans-subjective, cybernetic networks via CG simulations. Finally, I turn to the remediation of various digital interfaces in films such as Redacted (2007), comparing the emergent models of military subjectivity discussed in the previous chapters with the spectatorial positions evoked by this hypermediated aesthetic.

Scholarly literature supports that individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer face inequities as a result of living in a heteronormative society. However, scholarly literature lacks body of research available that provides insight as to the experiences that counselors have while providing mediation to same-sex couple regarding coparenting. Thus, a literature gap exists pertaining to the lived experiences of counselors who provide mediation for same-sex couple coparenting. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to develop an understanding of counselors who provide same-sex couple coparenting. The theoretical framework used in this study was the equity theory, which speaks to how inequities in inputs and gains from a relationship affect behaviors. Participant selections criteria included being 21 years of age, a licensed counselor, and having worked with same-sex couples for coparenting mediation for 1 year. Data were collected from 5 counselors through interviews and analyzed, which produced 5 main themes and 18 subthemes. Data analysis was conducted by considering the whole transcription, statements and phrases and a line by line approach. The 5 main themes were practices, skills, knowledge, beliefs, and challenges noted by the participants. The results of this study provide insight as to similarities and differences in education that are necessary for both counseling and mediation. A better-defined understanding of counselor mediation experiences may promote changes in counseling programs to include mediation skills, increased multicultural competence, and knowledge of basic family law in regard to child custody.