<p>Research workflows in higher education have converged onto digital formats. While the technology to store data has improved at an increasing pace, personal and organizational behaviors have not adapted as rapidly. The study sought ways to communicate digital preservation skills to researchers to improve the permanency of their research data. This study proposes three temporal contexts digital ? short-term, long-term and trans-generational. Study questions asked selected participants about how they manage their digital data. The study used Diffusion of Innovation theory concepts within an Activity Theory construct and the Open Archive Information System to model key areas of transformation. The key areas were determined by analysis of interviews, surveys and institutional data. The model provides a new way to understand the complex set of issues that can inhibit data preservation. The study used descriptive statistics and social network analysis to elaborate ways to transmit new data preservation attitudes and behaviors more effectively. In particular, the data management plan requirement for National Science Foundation grant submissions was found to be a potentially powerful motivator for a limited number of researchers. The study found that there is an opportunity for the institution to create group activities, such as workshops, that specifically include faculty with NSF grants and those who share other grant submission experience with them. The study also found that information technology staffs need to understand research problems from the researcher perspective better to overcome some trust issues. Finally, campus leadership needs to identify their role in addressing the issue for the long-term benefit of the institution. Strategic goals are an important first step. Building a robust digital preservation environment is an iterative process dependent on many perspectives. The goal of this research is to speed the process by developing a systems-level model for exposing problem areas.

<p> In response to the increased demand for primary care in the United States&mdash;a byproduct of a growing elderly population and insurance expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)&mdash;the total number and capacities of community health centers (HCs) is expected to grow. While HCs have historically depended on physicians to deliver the majority of their care, more and more, they are shifting to non-physician clinicians, especially nurse practitioners (NPs); yet, little is known about the quality of care delivered by NPs in HCs or about the role state occupational restrictions have on these practitioners or their patients. </p><p> Using quasi-experimental methods and data from the community health center subsample of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), this dissertation explores three distinct, but related, research questions regarding NP-delivered care in HCs&mdash;its effectiveness and comparability to physician care, the extent that tradeoffs in the quantity and quality of care are made, and the real-world risks and benefits of states easing their scope of practice restrictions. Findings, which suggest that NP care is comparable to physician care in most ways and that the quality of NP-delivered care does not significantly vary irrespective of states&rsquo; NP independence status, have important implications for policy and practice.</p>

<p> This dissertation suggests that network governance theory may have reached an impasse, and in order to pursue its advance, new methods need to be used. It tests the viability of actor-network theory on providing new insights on network governance, which could contribute to the strengthening of network governance theory. The author suggests that actor-network theory may offer both an epistemology and ontology that intents to not impose current definitions and divisions of traditional social science. By doing so, actor-network theory focuses on the performance of associations rather than on the traditional categories of structures, institutions, individuals or groups &mdash; characteristic of most network governance studies.</p><p> This study tests the viability of actor-network theory in a complex international environmental policy network in the Andean Amazon. It employs Latour&rsquo;s three-movement method of deployment of controversies, rendering associations traceable again, and reassembling governance. The methodological strategy provides a clean slate to search for a new perspective of network governance, which is based on participants&rsquo; perspectives. It is found that associations are established among programs, projects, public policies, among others; and that this associations seem to remain even if organizations, programs, and projects leave the network. Actor-networks&rsquo; roles in network governance appear to be not static, and their degree of affiliation ranges from formal to informal associations.</p><p> Applying actor-network theory in the study of network governance suggests that action is dislocated, and that groups are in continuous formation. Groups&rsquo; boundaries are define and redefine based on participants&rsquo; perspectives and associations. Finally, a discussion in regards to the implications of this research for both network governance and actor-network theory is offered. </p>

<p> Unaccompanied children arrive at the U.S. border in seek of refugee from the gang activity, abuse and/or poverty from their country of origin. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the values, intentions, objectives and effects of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 with connection to unaccompanied children. There will be an analysis of how the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and other related policies have affected the care, processing, treatment and apprehension of unaccompanied children.</p><p>

<p> <b>Objectives:</b> Mothers of low socioeconomic status (SES) and of non-Hispanic black race deliver prematurely more often. The goal of my dissertation was to improve understanding of the mechanism of disproportionate premature birth in low SES women. I tested a psychological and physiological stress explanation of prematurity risk, estimated the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion on gestational age (GA), and estimated how the ACA Medicaid expansion effect was influenced by race. <i><b>Data and Methods:</b></i> I developed a conceptual framework of how psychological and physiological stress increase premature birth risk utilizing Appraisal and pathophysiology theory. I generated hypotheses about how financial risk removal would impact GA and tested them utilizing variation in expansions in Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women in three matched state pairs and distribution of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). I utilized data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and performed multivariate ordinal regressions. I also used national birth record data and exploited state variation in ACA Medicaid expansion status to estimate the impact on GA in non-Hispanic black and all other mothers using multivariate linear regressions and linear probability models. </p><p> <b>Results:</b> Hypothesis testing based on two of the three Medicaid expansion for pregnant women state pairs and the EITC analyses resulted in significant evidence (one-sided p-values &lt; 0.05) for a direct pathway between psychological stress concerning financial risk, physiological stress, and GA. The ACA Medicaid expansion was associated with an increase in GA for non-Hispanic black mothers (+34 hours), a decrease for all other mothers (&ndash;6 hours), and a 3% decrease (95% CI = &ndash;5% to &ndash;2%) in the incidence of early term or shorter gestation births for non-Hispanic black mothers. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Decreasing financial risk for low SES women with Medicaid or the EITC is associated with increased GA. The higher premature birth risk in this population is likely the result of a direct pathway involving psychological and physiological stress. Other financial risk removal strategies should be investigated. The ACA Medicaid expansion did not meaningfully influence GA on a weekly scale but did moderately decrease overall preterm birth risk in non-Hispanic black mothers.</p><p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

<p> In 1994 Congress enacted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which in part gave the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (DOJCRD) the power to investigate local law enforcement agencies for Constitutional and civil rights violations. Researchers have found these investigations are expensive, time consuming, and highly intrusive to a law enforcement agency. To understand how these investigations are impacting communities, data were gathered on cities with local law enforcement agencies that have experienced an investigation by the DOJCRD. Using a quasi-experimental, multiple time-series research design with a paired samples <i>t</i>-test, the dependent variables (violent crime and arrest rates) were analyzed for any differences before and after the introduction of the independent variable (the commencement of a DOJCRD investigation). With an established <i> a</i> = .05, adjusting for non-reported crime, and comparing to a non-equivalent control variable (national crime rate), the research findings indicate increased violent crime with the commencement of these investigations. The results also show that arrest rates significantly decreased indicating the possibility of de-policing. The negative impact to communities with increased violent crime rates and decreased arrest rates calls into question the efficacy of DOJCRD investigations. By supporting the recommendation for Congress to repeal this power given to the DOJCRD, this research can lead to positive social change by preventing federal government intrusion into local government that is negatively impacting communities.</p><p>

<p> This master&rsquo;s thesis investigates the economic factors that are affecting the financial decision-making of educated, middle to upper class Millennials in Los Angeles, California. This thesis explores how economic factors, preferences, and self-efficacy interact to determine housing pathways. This thesis also asks whether Millennials in Los Angeles will be able to afford homes and how the cultural narrative of the American Dream affects preferences. In order to answer these questions, twenty in person interviews are conducted with residents of Los Angeles in which they are asked about their values and preferences regarding housing, and the economic factors they are currently facing. This thesis finds that participants are struggling to navigate through economic factors such as student loans, a changing labor market, urbanization, high cost of living, stagnating wages, and high housing prices. This thesis finds that participants are experiencing low self-efficacy when it comes to finances, which seems to be a proportional reaction to the current economic climate. This thesis also finds that most participants want to own homes, however, in reality very few will be able to afford to buy homes in Los Angeles and will have to rent indefinitely. Lastly, this thesis finds that participants are rejecting the old American dream and that their preferences and values are different from baby boomers', however the housing market has not yet evolved to meet the demand of those changing preferences.</p><p>

This thesis presents a comparative analysis of the relationship between party political ideology and changing family policies during the 1980s and 1990s in France, the UK and Spain. It explores theoretical perspectives on political ideology, policy analysis and policy change. Different disciplinary approaches to the analysis of public policy are reviewed in relation to policy change and ideologies. The thesis tests theories of ideology by applying them in three substantive case studies of family policy change in France, the UK and Spain. Each case study analyses the manifestos of the major political parties in relation to eight family policy instruments, pro-family statements and their position in relation to the opposing state intervention dimensions of public/private and family/individual. The policy measures are further considered within two dimensions: regulatory and support.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-09-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:33:02Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ramos_rc_me_prud.pdf: 3443711 bytes, checksum: 9e1aae6baad2ab5f36e06a37f24c5427 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta pesquisa está inserida na linha de pesquisa: ”Políticas públicas, organização escolar e formação de professores”. Este trabalho é um estudo de caso que analisa o impacto do Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento do Ensino Fundamental e de Valorização do Magistério (FUNDEF) na estruturação da rede municipal de ensino do município de Pirapozinho-SP. A vertente teórica da pesquisa faz uso de um referencial teórico acadêmico sobre financiamento da educação que envolve, entre outros autores, Carlos Roberto Jamil Cury, João Antonio de Monlevade, Donaldo Bello de Souza, José Marcelino de Rezende Pinto, bem como de fundamentação em documentos oficiais das diversas instâncias governamentais, e a vertente empírica se fundamenta em informações acerca de uma prática sindical vivenciada pela pesquisadora aliada à análise documental e entrevistas semiestruturadas e depoimentos, orais e escritos com protagonistas da ação histórica. Ele trata, especificamente, de como uma política pública nacional refletiu-se na organização do sistema de ensino nos municípios em geral e em particular, no município estudado. Foi a Constituição Federal de 1988 que, elevando o município a ente federado, estabeleceu a responsabilidade deste com o ensino fundamental. O processo de municipalização do ensino fundamental, no estado de São Paulo, efetivou-se como decorrência da criação do FUNDEF... / This research is embedded in the line of research: Public policies, school organization and teacher training. This work is a case study that examines the impact of Maintenance and Development of Fundamental Education and Valorization of Teaching (FUNDEF) in structuring the network of municipal schools in the municipality of Pirapozinho-SP. The theoretical aspect of the research makes use of a theoretical framework on academic funding of education that involves, among other authors, Carlos Roberto Jamil Cury, João Antonio de Monlevade, Donaldo Bello de Souza, José Marcelino de Rezende Pinto, as well as reasoning in officialdocuments from various government levels, and the empirical part is based on information about a union practice experienced by the researcher together with the documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews and statements, oral and written with actors in historical action. It is about, specifically, how a national public policy reflected in the organization of the education system in the municipalities in general and particularly in the municipality of Pirapozinho-SP. It was the Constitution of 1988 that, bringing the city between the federated entities, stablished that it has the responsibility of the elementary school. The decentralization process of basic education in the state of São Paulo was as a result of the creation of the FUNDEF. Special emphasis was given to a strategic link between the purposes of the law and practice of municipalization. The study concluded that while the fund in question had not increased the volume of financial resources for basic education, streamlined the application of these resources, making their use more efficient, reducing fraud and waste and thereby increased the number of children that attend Public School, reaching a level close to the universalization of elementary education... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)