Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Presidential Voting Motivation By Factors Of Agency, Sharlene Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The President of the United States sets the tone for policy and has significant power in adopting and implementing policy. Despite this acknowledged power, prior studies, have not examined whether or not agency theory is predictive of voting in U.S. presidential elections. Agency theory is important in the scope of voting behavior as it identifies the relationships which support significance in practicing the activity. This correlational study examined the statistical impact of personal agency, social agency, and sociocultural agency on predictive voting behavior. This study used secondary data originally collected between 1956 and 2008 by the American National Election Study …

Health Care Reform And The Transition From Volume To Quality Payment Models: A Primary Care Focus, Kevin Lee Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) resulted in providers and health care organizations conforming to new payment models that connect reimbursement to patient outcomes. Primary care providers (PCPs) are tasked to provide new quality provisions as chronic disease management is a key focus to improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was to understand the transition to new payment models and determine whether care is improved. The conceptual framework is grounded in health care access models geared towards the improvement of quality outcomes including the chronic care model (CCM). The research questions were designed to understand providers' …

Enhancing Workplace Productivity And Competitiveness In Trinidad And Tobago Through Ict Adoption, Kennedy Jerome Swaratsingh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The productivity of Trinidad and Tobago's public sector workplaces is related to their absorptive capacity for technological adoption. Guided by the technology acceptance model, which suggests that individuals' and institutions' use of technology increases in relation to perceived ease of use and apparent value, this case study explored how Trinidad and Tobago used information and communications technology from 2001 - 2010 to improve public sector workplace productivity. Study data were collected from 22 individual interviews with senior executives from the government of Trinidad and Tobago, members of the e-business roundtable, and local industry experts, and from reviewing the archives of …

The Influence Of School Leadership Practices On Classroom Management, School Environment, And Academic Underperformance, Lorna Novlette Wilson Morgan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Influence of School Leadership Practices on Classroom Management, School Environment, and Academic Underperformance

by

Lorna Novlette Wilson Morgan

MSc, Florida International University, 2006

BSc, University of Technology, 2000

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Walden University

April 2015

School leadership requires the collaborative efforts of principals, teachers, parents, students, and other community members to achieve academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance in Jamaica. The research was based upon distributive leadership theory. …

An Offender's Perspective Of Correctional Education Programs In A Southeastern State, Boderick Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many offenders are incarcerated in U.S prisons with the intent of rehabilitation; however, a majority of these offenders will be released with limited options for employment. Recidivism has been linked to unemployment. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the lived experiences of 20 offenders involved in correctional education programs while incarcerated to explore their correctional education experience within the context of postincarceration employment. The theoretical foundation of this study was based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Narrative data were elicited pertaining to offenders' perceptions of past education experience, correctional education experience, and their perceived impact of the …

Productivity Standards, Marriage And Family Therapist Job Satisfaction, And Turnover Intent, Gilbert Ernest Franco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Turnover among mental health professionals is high, which can have a direct impact on access to services and continuity of care. Informed by goal-setting theory, social-cognitive theory, and self-efficacy, this quantitative study investigated how California community mental health agency productivity standards were related to self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and marriage and family therapist (MFT) turnover intent among 141 MFTs. Participants completed a Demographic and Productivity Questionnaire, Job Self-Efficacy Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale, and Turnover Intention Scale. The relationship between participant age, gender, experience, number of work hours, licensure status, and job site with job satisfaction and turnover intent were assessed using …

Knowledge Of Overdiagnosis And The Decision To Participate In Breast Cancer Screening, Kimberly T. Nembhard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, breast cancer was the second leading cause of death among Canadian women, with women over age 50 years making up 82% of the identified cases. To address this issue, the Ontario Breast Screening Program developed a media campaign that promoted the benefits of mammogram screening, but not the associated risks (i.e., false-positive, false-negative, radiation exposure, and overdiagnosis). This study was designed to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of overdiagnosis and participation in mammogram screening. This cross-sectional, correlational study used schema theory supported by the effective health communication model. Forty-one women were invited to …

Parents' Influence On Student Advanced Placement Class Enrollment, Alissa Denise Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Advanced Placement program allows high school students who pass an end of course Advanced Placement exam to receive college credit for college level courses completed during high school. The problem addressed by this project study is that, in the school under study, there is low enrollment in Advanced Placement classes even though many students qualify for these courses. Using a case study research design and collecting qualitative data, this study examined the influence parents have on student course selection. This study followed the theories of Epstein which indicate that involved parents positively influence their children's academic achievement. The research …

Self-Control, Self-Efficacy, And Work Ethic As Potential Factors In Entitlement In Adolescents, Janine Shalka

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Narcissism has increased in the past 3 decades. Entitlement is a component of narcissism, and substantial research indicates that entitlement is associated with negative behaviors such as aggression, relationship conflict, incivility, and unreasonable expectations in the workplace, learning environments, and relationships. Despite such findings, factors such as self-control, work ethic, and self-efficacy that might explain the variance in entitlement in adolescents has received little investigation. Social cognitive theory indicates that continuous reciprocal relationships exist between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. The study employed cross-sectional survey research to gather data from 118 students in Grades 10, 11, and 12 in the …

We Left Lassie Behind: Defense Personnel Relocation, Animal Abandonment, And Shelter Impacts, Gabriele Griffiths

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When Department of Defense (DoD) personnel receive orders to relocate to a new duty installation, nearly one third abandon their companion animals, which negatively affects the local shelters' costs, personnel, and capabilities to provide quality care for shelter animals. There is a lack of research on relevant policies among local government policy makers, installation commanders, directors of animal shelters, and animal rights advocates about the abandonment of companion animals by DoD personnel. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to investigate the relationship between the influx of abandoned DoD companion animals and the management and logistical (including financial) …

School Climate, Developmental Assets, And Academic Success In Kipp Hispanic Students, Rebecca Elaine Lopez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hispanic students residing in the United States have historically been the lowest-achieving ethnic group in public schools and have a high dropout rate. A stark comparison to those statistics can be found within the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools in San Antonio, Texas, which have a majority Hispanic student population that is thriving academically and advancing to college. Using the Search Institute's positive youth development theory, the purpose of this study was to (a) quantitatively explore how school climate moderates the relationship between Hispanic student acquisition of developmental assets and academic success at KIPP charter schools from the …

Reducing Challenging Behaviors In Intellectually Disabled Individuals: A Comparison Of Organizational Culture And Treatment Approach, Frances Mascolo-Glosser

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The deinstitutionalization of the intellectually disabled (ID) and their transition to community living in New York State necessitated training initiatives for staff to manage challenging behaviors safely and humanely. However, the use of physical interventions to control self-injury and physical aggression may have become organizationally habituated, and limited research has compared programs that use physical versus nonphysical interventions. This mixed-method, comparative case study compared a restraint-free day habilitation program with one that used physical interventions, examining the differences in reducing self-injury, aggression, and types of interventions applied. Qualitative differences in philosophical approach to behavior intervention strategies and staff training protocols …

An Evaluation Of Math Assessment Policy Process In A Southwestern School District, Alicia O'Brien

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An Evaluation of Math Assessment Policy Process in a Southwestern School District

by

Alicia Taber O'Brien

EdS, Walden University, 2011

MA, Western Governors University, 2004

BS, New Mexico State University, 1994

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Teacher Leadership

Walden University

September 2015

This project study addressed the lack of evaluation of a math assessment policy in a rural elementary school district in the southwestern United States. This district implemented a math assessment policy in the spring of 2005, yet no evaluation had been conducted to determine whether the policy …

Independent Retail Business Owners' Perceptions Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act., Bradley A. Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010 prompted the question of how independent businesses may react to the employer mandate in the PPACA. The law is based on the theory of managed competition and it is more likely to affect businesses with fewer employees than to affect larger businesses that already offer health insurance. The purpose of this quantitative, pre-experimental study was to examine the strategic responses of independent retail business owners in Hillsborough County, Florida, regarding their perceptions of the employer mandate in the PPACA. Before 2014, there was a great deal of non-peer-reviewed …

Leaders' Risk Propensity And Delegation Of Critical Decision-Making Authority, Reginald Carlton Doctor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A leader's unwillingness to delegate critical decision-making authority to subordinate managers and employees negatively impacts the performance of a firm. There is a lack of research that measures a leader's willingness to delegate critical decision-making authority to subordinate managers and employees based on their individual risk propensities. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence of the influence risk propensity has on a leader's willingness to delegate critical decision-making authority. Specifically, this study examined the extent that risk propensity of leaders affect delegating critical decision making authority to subordinate managers and employees. The research design was a quantitative …

Maternal Depression: The Impact Of Perceived Social Support And Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Provider 50 Services, Tammy Lynn Gregorowicz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to identify if the rate of behavioral health rehabilitation services (BHRS) impacts depressive symptoms of mothers with children receiving these services and if the perception of social support moderates the severity of depression. The stress-buffering hypothesis and Bowen's family systems theory were used for the theoretical framework. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from mothers of children receiving BHRS Provider 50 services in northeast Pennsylvania. The Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to assess depression and perceived social support. A self-made demographic …

Organizational Change: Evaluating The Effect Of Motivational Interviewing On Readiness To Change, Conrado Joaquin Grimolizzi-Jensen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Failure accompanies most organizational change efforts. Change agents' efforts focus on employee resistance or readiness to change without considering employee ambivalence. Motivational interviewing (MI) may reduce ambivalence and improve the success rate of organizational change initiatives. The purpose of this experimental research was to evaluate the effectiveness of MI to increase readiness to organizational change, to assess the influence of MI on change-related beliefs, and to investigate the relationship between beliefs and readiness to change. The theoretical framework was the transtheoretical model of change, the theory of planned behavior, and social cognitive theory. Through random assignment, 56 employees of a …

Certified Nursing Assistants' Experiences Regarding Resident-To-Resident Bullying In Nursing Homes, Cheryl Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Elder bullying is on the rise and occurs in many contexts such as senior living communities and nursing homes, causing concern for the well-being of the residents by families, staff, themselves, and society in general. Although research has been limited, it does reveal that resident-to-resident bullying in nursing homes is a problem warranting further scholarly attention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) regarding resident-to-resident bullying in nursing homes. The theory of reasoned action and the theory of reflective equilibrium provided a conceptual lens from which to explore and describe the importance …

Positive Psychological Capital, Need Satisfaction, Performance, And Well-Being In Actors And Stunt People, Brian Hite

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Positive psychological capital (PsyCap), a second-order construct formed from optimism, hope, resilience, and self-efficacy, has predicted the performance and psychological well-being of a variety of full-time workers, and mediators of the relationships between PsyCap and performance and psychological well-being have rarely been examined. Using self-determination theory, broaden-and-build theory, and the conceptual framework of positive psychology, this study was an exploration of (a) the relationships among PsyCap, (b) basic psychological need satisfaction (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness), and (c) psychological well-being and performance using a sample of 103 working actors and stunt people. A serial mediation model was proposed whereby PsyCap predicted …

The Correlation Among Personality Characteristics, Stress, And Coping Of Caregivers Of Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Natasha O'Connor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is little research on the coping strategies of direct support professional caregivers working with the intellectually disabled (ID) and developmentally disabled (DD). The study was guided by Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theory of the transactional model of stress and coping. The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is a correlation among the independent variables of coping and personality characteristics with stress as the dependent variable. A convenience sample of 69 professional caregivers was used. Data were collected using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, NEO-FFI-3, and a demographic questionnaire. A correlational analysis was conducted …

The Lived Experiences Of Limited English Proficiency, Spanish-Speaking Male Ex-Offenders, Paula Nery Sanchez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Spanish-speaking men in the United States with limited English proficiency following their release from prison. The study specifically examined the experiences of these men in their efforts to access health care treatment, housing, education, and employment in Central Pennsylvania. An empirical, phenomenological research design was employed that used self-stigma, critical race, and self-determination theories for in-depth interviews with 8 men who spent 5 to 24 years in prison. A tiered coding method was used to generate 6 interconnected themes that tell the story of these men's lives: …

Relationships Between A Prenatal Nutrition Education Intervention And Maternal Nutrition In Ethiopia, Divya Lakshmi Selvakumar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Ethiopia, 17% of pregnant women ages 18-49 are malnourished and have low awareness of prenatal nutrition, which may relate to increasingly high rates of maternal and infant mortality. The purpose of this mixed methods research study was to determine the effects of a community-based prenatal nutrition education intervention program on maternal nutrition knowledge and attitudes in the Alaje district of Ethiopia. The theoretical framework was Sen's capability theory of poverty, in which opportunities can lead to well-being and promote economic development. Research questions focused on the relationships among 8 independent variables-age, income source, degree of program implementation, marital status, …

Relationship Between Leadership, Organizational Commitment, And Intent To Stay Among Junior Executives, Lorraine Elizabeth Anderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Executive-level attrition rates from retiring baby boomers may result in a shortage of qualified junior executives to replace the retirees. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the efficacy of leadership style and organizational commitment in predicting intent to stay among junior executives. The Multifaceted Leadership Questionnaire, Three-Component Model (TCM) Employee Commitment Survey, and Intent to Stay Scale were administered to 147 junior executives employed in the southern region of the United States. Motivation theory served as the theoretical foundation in this study. The results of the bivariate regression were significant, F(1, 105) = 27.82, p < .001, R2 = .21, suggesting that leadership style significantly predicted intent to stay. The results of the multiple linear regression were significant, F(2, 104) = 19.42, p < .001, R2 = .27, suggesting that the model as a whole was able to significantly predict intent to stay. Affective commitment, B = 0.64, p < .001, was the only significant contributor to the model. The implications for positive social change include the potential to provide senior management with a better understanding of factors that relate to junior executive retention. The potential exists to provide senior executives with the necessary tools to increase retention. The social change implications include the potential for senior management to create a more desirable workplace, higher job satisfaction, and overall organization environment, making it more desirable to stay with the organization.

Disaster Management And Efforts To Mitigate The Destruction Of The Human-Environment, Dorothy Henderson Bell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Natural disasters expose the fact that poverty, race, gender, and other indicators of social disadvantage are linked to the population of citizens who struggle the most to recover after a disaster, yet these factors are not accounted for in public policy that guides decision making related to federal assistance to residents affected by a disaster. This study used neural networks as a research strategy to determine whether the current policies under the Stafford Act related to assistance comply with Congressional intent and law that uses a formula for assistance distribution, and whether human factors such as culture, measured as residing …

Human Service Professionals' Practice With Families After Parental Incarceration, Renata Aloma Hedrington Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers and other human services professionals helping families reintegrate after parental incarceration deal with multiple issues without a model of for facilitating family resilience. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore the essence of the perceived role, activities, and practices of a sample of social workers and other human service professionals engaged in the use of family group conferences (FGCs). FGCs are also referred to as restorative justice, as they inform and assist human service professionals in developing clinical interventions and best practices to support reintegration, family preservation, and stabilization. The framework for this study was …

Stress Among Undergraduate Distance Learners: A Cross-Sectional Study, Susan Hoang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are many changes undergraduate students face when they transition to the college environment, including vacations and an increase in academic workload. Past research has found that both gender and year of study impact level and sources of stress in undergraduate students who attend traditional brick and mortar institutions. However, the relationship between gender, year of study, and stress levels in undergraduate distance learners has not been well studied. Based on the cognitive theory of emotions, this quantitative study examined what undergraduate distance learners perceive as stressful, whether or not gender and year of study impacted these stressors and whether …

Racial Identity, Religious/Spiritual Support, Self-Efficacy, And Academic Support In Predicting Black College Students' Academic Performance, Jonathan M. Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black students in the United States continue to struggle academically as they matriculate into postsecondary education, placing them at risk for missing opportunities for work and social success. Research has identified the dimensions of Black racial identity, as well as other social factors, that may contribute to academic success. What is missing, however, is research grounded in a theory of Black identity that examines how identity and other factors combine to influence academic success. This quantitative online survey research tested 5 hypotheses to ascertain their relative strength in predicting academic success among Black college students: (a) demographics (age, gender, socioeconomic …

Witnessing Parental Domestic Violence And Young Girls' Dating Relationships, Brinda Kay Mckinney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence afflicts people regardless of ethnicity, socio-economically status, age, or gender. Too often, girls enter and remain in abusive relationships, despite the trauma and risks of doing so. Using Roy's theory of adaptation, this study explored the effect of witnessing inter-parental violence on girls' experiences of physical violence or sexual abuse in their dating relationships. Original data collection occurred at a Midwestern U.S. university via e-mail using questions adapted from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey Surveillance System. The study used 526 responses from female participants who self-disclosed if they had or had not witnessed inter-parental violence for categorical …

The Impact Of Leadership On The Governance Of Infrastructure Development In Nigeria, Michael Oziegbe Onolememen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research literature has documented Nigeria's leadership crisis since its independence from Great Britain in 1960. This crisis corresponds with political instability and infrastructure weaknesses, which have resulted in crime, corruption, poverty, lack of social cohesion and personal freedoms, environmental degradation, gender inequities, and deteriorating conditions of public works. No literature was located that addressed the impact of leadership on the governance and development of infrastructure in Nigeria. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate this phenomenon in Nigeria between 1960 and 2010. The theoretical framework comprised Burns' and Bass' theories of transformational leadership, and Davis' and Toikka's …

Contextual Factors And Direct Exposure To Hiv: Influences On Youth Sexual Intention, Hadiza Ladidi Osuji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Youth are having sexual intercourse at an early age and as such, are engaging in risky behaviors that are associated with adverse health outcomes, including HIV infection. Little research has been undertaken to examine the influence of contextual factors on youth intentions to delay sexual involvement. To address that gap, this study aimed to examine the influence of age, gender, race, immigration status, HIV knowledge, HIV-related stigma, concern about HIV, direct exposure to HIV/AIDS, peer pressure, and religious influence on youth intentions to delay sexual involvement. Delayed sexual involvement was conceptualized as youth attitudes towards abstaining from sex, their knowledge …