The focus of this study was on parents of elementary and middle school age children and how the variables of age, gender, and level of education influence their attitudes toward bullying. The gaps in literature support the notion that additional empirical research on the different sociological factors that influence, support, and encourage bullying is required. The purpose of this study was to determine if parental level of aggression, as measured by the Modified Overt Aggression Scale, can predict a parent's attitude toward bullying as measured by the Parental Attitudes to Bullying (PAB) scale. In addition, this study investigated whether other factors such as age, gender and level of education influence parental attitudes toward bullying. A convenient sample of 84 parents from parents teachers organizations' of elementary and middle schools in a school district in Midwestern Oklahoma was used. A multiple regression analysis was used within a correlational survey design to determine if a predictive relationship between the four variables and the constant exist. No significant relationships were found. A t test analysis was run between the PAB scale and the gender variable and indicated a small mean difference. The recommendations for future research include (a) exploring the effect of the sociocultural environment of families on the development of aggressive behaviors of children, (b) identifying parental characteristics that contribute to low sympathy toward bullying and high anger profiles, and (c) comparing income levels of parents who participate in bullying studies. The implication for social change that this study supports is to create initiatives for educating the public regarding risk factors for parents that may lead them to contribute to aggressive behaviors in children.

Lone wolf terrorism has received considerable media attention, yet this phenomenon has not been sufficiently examined in an academic study. National security officials must distinguish between terrorist activities carried out by lone wolves and those carried out by terrorist networks for effective intervention and potential prevention. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of the leaderless lone wolf terrorist and the underlying mechanisms and processes that lead individuals to be drawn to or away from an existing radical movement. The theoretical framework for this study was leaderless resistance theory. Secondary data from interviews, field notes, and surveys from the RAND-MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base and the Global Terrorism Database were analyzed using open and selective coding. Findings revealed 3 individual-level underlying mechanisms and processes (personal and political grievance, risk and status seeking, unfreezing) that lead individuals to be drawn to or away from an existing radical movement and to act unilaterally without direction toward violent ends. Findings also indicated that no single typology fits all perpetrators. The findings benefit national security officials and intelligence agencies by identifying lone wolf individuals, weighing the actual threat versus the perception, developing better counterterrorism strategies for the lone wolf phenomenon, and enhancing relations with outside agencies. Results may improve understanding of lone wolf terrorism and may be used to develop new policies to predict and track future threats.

A need assessment is a systematic process of determining community needs through the comparative analysis of people, problems, and services. Although need assessments of some form have existed since biblical times, it has only been within recent years that their use in social planning has become prominent. This is attributed to the increasing belief in the necessity of pertinent data to make decision-making responsive to community needs. Ten basic issues should be considered in designing a need assessment, These are: 1) Purpose; 2) Decision-making context; 3) Agency resources; 4) Scope; 5) Future studies; 6) Staff roles; 7) Data collection; 8) Citizen participation: 9) Format; and 10) Evaluation design.In addition, three approaches can be used to perform a need assessment. These are populations-at-risk (people), problems, and services. Essentially, the same information is collected in all approaches, only highlighted in different perspective. It is necessary to develop categories within which needs and community characteristics can be studied. The categories should be consistent with the assessment approach and easily transformed into planning and decision-making areas.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The concern of this study is primarily with insights, either acquired or original, which may be gleaned from the works of Michael Quinn Patton, especially his seminal book, “Utilization-Focused Evaluation” with regards to utilisation of evaluation. The importance of utilisation of evaluation processes and findings cannot be overemphasised. Use is critical to the success of multiple development programmes in South Africa which collectively will ultimately determine the country’s accomplishment of its developmental goals. The study is an analysis of the relevant literature on utilisation of evaluation; comparing and contrasting Patton’s writings with those of other scholars on this topic of utilisation. The process of understanding these insights involves a brief biography of Patton to get a glimpse into the factors which influenced the development of his ideas and to learn from them as well as from his innovative ideas. The major theme of utilization-focused approach to evaluation is utility and actual use of evaluations. The study therefore devotes special attention to these concepts in order to find out how he defines them, his motivation to focus on them and his perceptions of the purposes of evaluation. These determine his conception of the evaluation field; and his success in promoting evaluation utilisation is measured against them. The study also contains a detailed discussion of the so-called “paradigms debate” between the quantitative and qualitative paradigms in the educational and social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s. This debate was necessary to quell the division triggered by the domination of the quantitative paradigm over qualitative one in these fields and to promote understanding of the need to prioritise research questions by designing studies to answer to them instead of research problems being fitted into “onesize- fits-all” readymade designs, the study argues. The role played by Patton in turning evaluation into a profession is also discussed at length. His works on this subject include a contribution towards enhancing quality and credibility of evaluation, major input on the Standards of Excellence for Evaluation as well as assisting in the development of methods for evaluation. The inevitability of politics in evaluation is highlighted together with the importance of their ethical conduct. The debates in the American Evaluation Association are very illuminating and Patton’s involvement in them is detailed in the study. They cover a range of issues which are useful to deepening of understanding of evaluation conduct and particular factors which affect use. The study ends with a critical analysis of Patton’s contribution to utilisation of evaluations by programme decision makers and its significance to South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van dié studie het hoofsaaklik te doen met insigte, hetsy oorspronklik of ontleen aan ander bronne, wat afgelei kan word van die werk van Michael Quinn Patton, veral van sy invloedryke boek, “Utilization-Focused Evaluation,” ten opsigte van die toepassing van program-evaluasie. Die belangrikheid van die toepassing van evalueringsprosesse en -bevindings, kan nie oorbeklemtoon word nie. Toepassing is krities tot die sukses van veelvuldige ontwikkelingsprogramme in Suid-Afrika wat gesamentlik uiteindelik sal bepaal of die land sy ontwikkelingsdoelwitte sal bereik. Die studie is ’n analise van die tersaaklike literatuur oor die toepassing van evaluering; wat Patton se werk met dié van ander skrywers oor die onderwerp van toepassing vergelyk. Die proses om dié insigte te verstaan, behels ’n kort biografie van Patton ten einde ’n vlugtige blik te kry oor die faktore wat tot die ontwikkeling van sy idees aanleiding gegee het en om van hulle, sowel as van sy innoverende idees, te leer. Die hooftema van die toespitsing op die toepassingsbenadering vir evaluering, is sy veelsydigheid en die werklike gebruik van evaluasies. Derhalwe le die studie hom dus veral op dié konsepte toe ten einde vas te stel hoe hy hulle gebruik het, wat sy motivering was om daarop te fokus en sy siening rondom die doelwitte van evaluasie. Dít bepaal sy begrip van die gebied van evaluasie, en sy sukses ten einde die toepassing van evaluasie te bevorder, word hierteenoor gemeet. ’n Uitvoerige bespreking oor die sogenaamde “ paradigma-debat’’ tussen die kwantatiewe en kwalitatiewe paradigmas in die opvoedkundige en sosiale wetenskappe van die 1960’s en 1970’s word ook hierin saamgevat. Verder voer die studie aan dat die debat noodsaaklik was ten einde die verdeeldheid te oorkom wat deur die oorheersing van die kwantitatiewe oor die kwalitatiewe paradigmas op dié terreine veroorsaak is, en om begrip te bevorder betreffende die behoefte om navorsingsvrae voorrang te gee deur studies te ontwerp wat dié vrae beantwoord, in plaas daarvan om navorsingsprobleme in ’n klaargemaakte een-grootte-pas-almal ontwerp te plaas. Patton se rol om program-evaluasie in’n professie te omskep, word breedvoerig bespreek. Sy werk oor die onderwerp sluit ’n bydrae in om die gehalte en geloofwaardigheid van evaluasie te verhef, belangrike insette ten opsigte van die Standaarde van Uitnemenheid vir Evaluasie, sowel as om met die ontwikkeling van evaluasiemetodes te help.

Digital inequalities continue to concern researchers across highly technologised countries. In recent years, however, most research on digital inequalities has focused on distinguishing different patterns of Internet use rather than examining Internet non-users. The few quantitative studies of non-use and reasons for non-use often stay on a descriptive level, while qualitative studies mostly investigate subpopulations, such as those living in specific neighbourhoods. Although there are a number of studies of digital inequalities among young people and the elderly, a systematic literature search finds no research focusing on middle-aged individuals, who might face specific problems with being offline, as they are of working age and more likely than other age groups to have children living in the household. On the basis of a mixed-methods research design that compares non-users in Great Britain and Sweden, the overarching research question for this study sheds light on the mechanisms contributing to Internet non-use, as it examines the socio-economic backgrounds, attitudes, perceptions, and everyday life experiences of non-users with a focus on 25 to 55 year-olds. It applies advanced statistical analyses of secondary nationally representative survey data as well as in-depth analysis of qualitative interviews with 10 middle-aged non-users from each country. The analysis of these combined data shows that while socio-economic variables still play an important role in influencing who is on- and offline, general attitudes towards technologies are even more influential. The study finds that there is a lack of life-fit (Selwyn 2006) of ICTs for a number of non-users and a potentially negative impact of warm experts (Bakardjeva 2005) who have previously been regarded as a positive influence. Moreover, vulnerable groups (e.g. immigrants) are facing more substantial problems, such as issues with literacy and language, which need to be tackled first. The deliberation of similarities and differences between Britain and Sweden against the backdrop of policy interventions and cultural values shows that being offline is not problematic for all Internet non-users; some of them thrive in highly technologised societies. The conclusion offers proposals for both future research and policy interventions for those, currently offline mainly due to socio-economic reasons, who would like to go online in the future.

The United States, as well as other nations, is experiencing an increase in the older adult population. As a result of older adults living longer, mobile devices can be a major component in improving older adults' quality of life. However, older adults may encounter difficulties when using the mobile devices. This research examined the requirements in addressing the needs of older adults when using a mobile device. Specifically, the research focused on gathering the task and feature requirements for a mobile device tutorial for older adults. The approach was accomplished by the development of a mobile device questionnaire, which was first administered to a pilot group of older adults, to determine the questionnaire's comprehensiveness, then to an adequate sample size of older adults at four senior activity centers, located in Prince George's County, Maryland. Based on the responses to the specific research questions from the total population, two focus groups, consisting of a total of ten individuals, were selected. The focus groups, identified as focus group A and B, were created, based on how likely or unlikely the respondent would use a mobile device tutorial. Following the collection of the questionnaires from the total population and the two focus groups, the results of the data were analyzed. The quantitative findings for the total population for the task requirements found that e-mail had the highest mean (4.40%), followed by health, shopping, restaurant, and financial. The findings for the feature requirements found that photos had the highest mean (4.21%), followed by camera, contacts, reminders, and FaceTime. The researcher developed findings based on the qualitative analysis from the total sample population. The major qualitative findings consisted of the benefits, to include access, availability, accuracy and usefulness. The drawbacks consisted of ease of use, user concerns, and the inability to ask questions. In the analysis of the quantitative findings for the task requirements, focus group A was slightly different from the total population, with shopping having the highest mean (6.80%), followed by health, restaurants, e-mail and financial. The findings for the task requirements for focus group B, were similar to the total population, with e-mail and health having the highest means (1.60%), followed by restaurants and financial (equal), and shopping. The findings for the feature requirements for focus group A, were similar to the total population, with photos and reminders (6.80%), followed by camera, and FaceTime and contacts. The findings for the feature requirements for focus group B, were also similar to the total population and focus group A, with photos having the highest mean (1.80%), followed by reminders, and contacts, camera, and FaceTime (equal). In the analysis of the qualitative analysis for focus group A some of the benefits included availability and encouragement. For focus group B, some of the benefits included working at one's own pace, and understandability of the device. The qualitative analysis for the total population findings for the benefits of a mobile device tutorial included access to a tutorial, availability, skill set for a tutorial, and usefulness. The main responses pertaining to why the respondent would use a mobile device include the device's availability, ease to use, use at one's leisure, and using the device at one's own pace. In examining the qualitative findings for the two focus groups, the major areas for the benefits for focus group A, are similar to the total population. These areas include availability, encouragement, and listening to the tutorial several times. The major areas for focus group B, are similar to the total population and focus group A, to include listening to the tutorial several times. In exploring deeper into the focus groups' responses, the participants addressed specific questions regarding the task and feature requirements. For the specific task or feature requirements for which a respondent would likely use a mobile device tutorial for assistance, focus group A's responses were the features of FaceTime and the tasks of e-mail, photos, and contacts. Focus group B responses were the task requirement of health care and financial and feature requirements of camera and photos. The mixed method analysis supports the premise that older adults would desire instructions on the identified task and feature requirements for a mobile device tutorial. The recommendations of the research consisted of additional examination of collecting data across multiple senior activity centers, the Baby Boomer generation, and older adult computer classes. Designing a mock-up tutorial, using another mobile device, and the use of current Siri feature, are other possible research investigations. Lastly, the implications of the study, filled the gap regarding senior adults and mobile devices, by contributing to the research pertaining to mobile device tutorials that would accommodate older adults.

The media conflates and distorts in its coverage on the war on terror- simultaneously misrepresenting and constructing the political and historically complex conflict between the Middle East and the West. Due to the current social-political climate of increasing xenophobia and the normalisation of Islamophobia, this study attempts to expand previous studies conducted on the media in relation to the war on terror. This is a comparative quantitative analysis of media framing between a Western news source and an Arab news source, examining their coverage of the November 2015 Paris attack and the March 20th Sana’a, Yemen attack. The findings revealed a deep complexity and intertwining of the media and its representation on the war on terror: the U.S. news source engaged more so in forms of biased framing of when covering the Paris attack and held a Western gaze of superiority when covering the Yemen attack, while the Arab news source proved to be overall less biased but was found to be susceptible to Westernisation.

As mobile technologies have increasingly become a part of personal and work environments, mobile learning is emerging as a viable alternative for training and education needs. Faced with the need for innovative and cost-efficient ways for training government employees, agencies and departments are considering the use of mobile learning. The availability of a wide range of mobile technology provides many options. Other than the Department of Defense, little is known about implementing mobile learning in United States government cabinet level agencies and departments. A concurrent, mixed methods case study was used to examine how organizations decide to use, implement and evaluate mobile learning efforts. The framework and context were established through a thorough review of recent, related research literature. A purposive sampling strategy was used with the goal of targeting participants that have the greatest potential of using or considering the use of mobile learning. Three research questions guided the study and concentrated on the influences on the decision to implement mobile learning, the approaches organizations take and the methods used to evaluate implementations. A self-administered online questionnaire, using both structured and semi-structured questions and a review of publicly available documents were used to build a picture of the evidence that described the current state of mobile learning in cabinet-level agencies and departments. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, integrated, interpreted and compared. Connections and relationships were made between mobile technology use, mobile learning environments, mobile learning content, educators and trainers, mobile learners and mobile learning evaluations. The results revealed that cabinet-level agencies and departments have begun to make use of mobile technology to support the delivery of business service. To a lesser extent, perceptions are forming, and the role of mobile learning continues being defined, as organizations are cautiously adopting its use. Policies and guidelines are in the early stages of development. The results contribute to the growing body of work on the use of mobile learning.

This text takes a new approach to autoethnography by using personal narratives to analyze our work across multiple disciplines and subdisciplines. These stories feature authors working at the intersections of autoethnography and critical theory within a given organizational context. Organizations are not simply entities, but systems of meaning. As such they are sites of cultural practices and performances, and of domination, resistance and struggle. Working at the intersection of organizational studies and autoethnography, this book explores the ability of autoethnographic and personal narrative approaches to generate important, innovative, and empowering understandings of difference, discourses, and identities, while attending to the various powerful dynamics that are at play in organizations. These are stories of work, at work, and help to finally bring theory and direct exemplars together. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1130/thumbnail.jpg

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