Degree Level

Stoney Burns and Dallas Notes: Covering the Dallas Counterculture, 1967-1970 (open access)

Stoney Burns and Dallas Notes: Covering the Dallas Counterculture, 1967-1970

Stoney Burns (Brent LaSalle Stein) edited and published Dallas Notes, a Dallas, Texas, underground newspaper, from November 1967 through September 1970. This thesis considers whether Burns was the unifying figure in the Dallas counterculture.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Lovell, Bonnie Alice
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dallas Barrio Women of Power (open access)

Dallas Barrio Women of Power

This thesis discusses Mexican immigration into Texas, and the communities in which the immigrants settled. The focus is on Dallas, with particular emphasis placed upon the women of Little Mexico, a specific barrio there. Sources include interviews with the subjects and their descendants, newspaper articles, journals, unpublished theses about Little Mexico, and books.
Date: May 1992
Creator: Guzman, Jane Bock
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personality Profiles of Hospitality Students: A Comparison of These Traits to Those Preferred by the Hospitality Industry (open access)

Personality Profiles of Hospitality Students: A Comparison of These Traits to Those Preferred by the Hospitality Industry

One problem facing the hospitality industry today is turnover. Management turnover rates of 50 and 75 percent continue to plaque all segments of the industry. Personality type theory holds that people are happier in environments that are compatible with their personalities. This study examines 229 undergraduate students enrolled in hospitality education at the University of North Texas. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator was administered to these students to determine their predominant personality types, and to compare these types to those desired by hospitality industry professionals for success within the industry. Variables such as gender, work experience, and classification were also examined in comparison to student personality types.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Martin, Lynda (Lynda Jean)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Purification Rhetoric: A Generic Analysis of Draft Card, Flag, and Cross Burning Cases (open access)

Purification Rhetoric: A Generic Analysis of Draft Card, Flag, and Cross Burning Cases

This thesis assesses three United States Supreme Court opinions, engaging in an inductive approach to generic criticism, in an attempt to discover whether or not there are similarities and/or differences in these decisions. This study focuses on draft card, flag, and cross burning cases argued before the Court in order to discover the potential genre's characteristics.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Pollard, Donald Kent
System: The UNT Digital Library
Toward a Critique of the Message Construct in Communication (open access)

Toward a Critique of the Message Construct in Communication

The idea of an inherent structure of meaning in human communication is identified as the message construct. Traces of the construct in textbook models of the basic communication process and in popular magazine images of communication are examined. The argument is raised that objectifying the message has resulted in a paradigm which focuses disproportionately on explicit, representational, and instrumental aspects of communication. An alternative conception is proposed which would take into account implicit, constitutive, and generative aspects.
Date: August 1991
Creator: Wilson, John K. (John Kenneth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Democratization and the Information Revolution: A Global Analysis for the 1980s (open access)

Democratization and the Information Revolution: A Global Analysis for the 1980s

Comparative studies of democratization point to a multitude of explanatory factors, while often lacking empirical evidence and theoretical foundation. This study introduces the revolution in information technology as a significant contributor to democratization in the 1980s and beyond. Utilizing a cybernetic version of an evolutionary interpretation of democratization an amended model for 147 countries is tested by bivariate and multiple regression analysis. The focus of the analysis is on how the first-ever use of an indicator of information technology explains democratization. The overall findings show that information technology is a meaningful element in the study of democratization today.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Esslinger, Thomas A. (Thomas Andreas)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Communication Flow, Information Exchange and Their Impact on Human Rights Violations (open access)

Communication Flow, Information Exchange and Their Impact on Human Rights Violations

Although international human rights declarations exist, violations of human rights are still sad but also common facts around the world. But for repressive regimes, it becomes more and more difficult to hide committed human rights violations, since society entered the "Information Revolution." This study argues that the volume of international information exchanged influences a country's human rights record. A pooled cross sectional time series regression model with a lagged endogenous variable and a standard robust error technique is used to test several hypotheses. The findings of this study indicate that the flow of information can be related to a country's human rights index. The study also suggests that more empirical work on this topic will be necessary.
Date: May 1996
Creator: Bonn, Georg
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of the Advance Organizer on Student Perception of Teacher Communication Competence (open access)

The Effects of the Advance Organizer on Student Perception of Teacher Communication Competence

The problem of this study was to determine whether the advance organizer would affect students' perception of instructor communication competence. The study also sought to determine any effect the organizer would have on student achievement.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Thibodeau, Melissa Eades
System: The UNT Digital Library
Using Assessment as a Method for Surfacing Tacit Knowledge to Influence Business Strategy: a Case Study (open access)

Using Assessment as a Method for Surfacing Tacit Knowledge to Influence Business Strategy: a Case Study

In a small, owner-managed, knowledge work firm, assessments were completed on the owners as a method to complete job analysis—surfacing tacit knowledge such as personal characteristics, cognitive style, values and philosophy that contributed to success. Business strategy is often strongly influenced by the tacit knowledge and competencies of the owners, and their unique perspective on the company and marketplace.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Reisenbichler, Lori J. (Lori Jenkins)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Critical Analysis of Newspaper Development in Taiwan Since the Lifting of Martial Law (open access)

A Critical Analysis of Newspaper Development in Taiwan Since the Lifting of Martial Law

This study reviews the changes in Taiwan's newspaper industry during its current period of transition. Contemporary newspaper development in Taiwan after the lifting of martial law in July 1987 is evaluated in relation to transformations in the newspaper marketplace, journalistic practices, labor relations, and freedom of expression. This study concludes that changes in Taiwan's newspaper business are closely related to changes in the country's political atmosphere. The lifting of the Ban of Newspaper brought freedoms for which journalists had fought for decades; however, journalistic quality has not improved at the same speed. Changes will continue in the journalism industry; whether it grows in a healthy way is a topic for future study.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Chen, Yu-Jen, 1957-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Intellectual Ability, Personality, and Vocational Interest as Predictors of Successful Job Performance in Restaurant Managers (open access)

Intellectual Ability, Personality, and Vocational Interest as Predictors of Successful Job Performance in Restaurant Managers

The history and use of tests of intellectual ability, personality, and vocational interest is briefly discussed as background for an exploratory study in the use of these instruments in predicting successful restaurant manager performance. Most previous research regarding managerial potential has focused on perceptions of managerial ability rather than on performance issues. Sixty-eight restaurant managers were tested in order to assess general intellectual ability, personality traits, and vocational interests as predictors of performance criteria. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that general intellectual ability, vocational match, masculinity, ascendance, and sociability would be positively correlated with effective job performance ratings. Results of the study did not confirm these predictions.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Olds, F. Ray
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Descriptive Analysis of the Development and Decline of New Taiwan Cinema, 1982-1986 (open access)

A Descriptive Analysis of the Development and Decline of New Taiwan Cinema, 1982-1986

The emphasis of this research is on the social, economic, and cultural factors generating the New Taiwan Cinema between 1982 to 1986. The study consists of four chapters. Chapter I introduces the background and parameters of the topic. Chapter II discusses the factors which nurtured the rise of New Taiwan Cinema. It also provides historical background information on Taiwanese films. Chapter III discusses the definition and characteristics of New Taiwan Cinema and its major filmmakers and films. Chapter IV focuses on the issue of the end of New Taiwan Cinema. This chapter also covers the general situation of the Taiwanese film industry after 1986.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Lin, Ying-chia, 1969-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Communication Based Model of Power (open access)

A Communication Based Model of Power

We are affected greatly by power, and often do not understand what power is, how it is used, and its many other facets. Power and communication are interrelated, but how they relate to each other has been hard to understand. The model presented in this thesis explicates the relationship between the two critical variables. Power is portrayed as a hierarchical structure that is based on influence (communication) where the intensity and likelihood of success of power attempts increase as the level of power increases. The hierarchical structure has four levels, including influence at its base, and prominence, authority and control at the higher levels.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Keefer, Larry D. (Larry Dale)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States (open access)

Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States

This study tested American television effects on Taiwanese Students in uncertainty reduction and stereotype forming. The study consisted of a questionnaire analysis and a focus group discussion. Fifty-five subjects responded to the questionnaires and twenty of them joined two group discussions.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Lu, Ray C. (Ray Chun)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Rhetoric of Spiro T. Agnew: a Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of Agnew's Views Concerning the Media (open access)

The Rhetoric of Spiro T. Agnew: a Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of Agnew's Views Concerning the Media

In November 1969, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew delivered two speeches attacking two mediums. In the first speech, Agnew initiated charges of erroneous reporting and irresponsible actions on the part of the television networks. In the second speech, Agnew assailed the concentration of power in the hands of a few newspaper companies. In both cases, complaints and support were immediate and substantial. This study employs the Neo-Aristotelian method of criticism to discover: 1) the extent to which Agnew was influenced by his past, and 2) how Agnew's rhetoric exhibited methods of rhetorical polarization. This study concludes that Agnew's past played a dominant role in his rhetoric. Further research in a variety of related areas is suggested.
Date: August 1990
Creator: Voorhees, Blain E. (Blain Eldon)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Study of Junior High School General Music Programs Between Korea and the United States (open access)

A Comparative Study of Junior High School General Music Programs Between Korea and the United States

iv, 126 leaves.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Kim, Do Soo
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction and Biological Sex: the Nurse-Physician Relationship (open access)

The Relationship Between Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction and Biological Sex: the Nurse-Physician Relationship

This study examined to what extent the biological sex of the nurse-physician interactants affects the interpersonal communication satisfaction experienced by the nurse. Hypotheses One and Two predicted that communication satisfaction would differ significantly across various combinations of sex of nurse and sex of physician dyads. Hypothesis Three predicted that male nurses would experience higher levels of communication satisfaction than would female nurses. Interpersonal communication satisfaction was operationalized by two self-report instruments. The sample included 153 male and female nurses. Results indicated that same-sex interactions were more satisfying for female nurses, while mixed-sex interactions were more satisfying for male nurses. Nurses reported greater communication satisfaction when interacting with female physicians. Hypothesis three was not supported.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Glenn, Theresa Hammerstein
System: The UNT Digital Library
Human Rights & U.S. Foreign Aid, 1984-1995: The Cold War and Beyond... (open access)

Human Rights & U.S. Foreign Aid, 1984-1995: The Cold War and Beyond...

This study attempts to cast empirical light on the traditionalist-revisionist debate regarding the impact of the Soviet Union's collapse on U.S. foreign policy decision-making. To accomplish this goal, the relationship between human rights and U.S. foreign aid decision-making is examined before and after the Cold War. In doing so, the author attempts to determine if "soft" approaches, such as the use of a country's human rights records when allocating aid, have garnered increasing attention since the end of Cold War, as traditionalists assert, or declined in importance, as revisionists content.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Miller, Brian Lawrence
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Fourteen Seréstas of Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) (open access)

The Fourteen Seréstas of Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

The Fourteen Seréstas of Heitor Villa-Lobos comprise a group of songs that expresses Villa-Lobos's compositional technique for the voice. These songs are challenging as a topic because not much historical or analytical research has been done on them. I approach the topic by providing historical background on the modinha and how it relates to the serésta. This is followed by a descriptive analysis in the order of the set, which includes musical examples, chart diagrams, and comparisons of the seréstas to other works. I hope to have contributed valuable information to the research of these songs since Villa-Lobos wrote over ninety solo vocal songs which still await analysis and discussion. This thesis is a contribution toward narrowing this gap.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Sánchez, Noé
System: The UNT Digital Library
Political Parties in Central America: A Reassessment (open access)

Political Parties in Central America: A Reassessment

Studies of political parties in Latin America have often been descriptive and not directed to link a theoretical foundation about political parties with qualitative or quantitative empiricism. This was in part because parties in the region were usually perceived as rather unimportant in the political arena. This study attempts to correct this often unjustified proposition by focusing on the development of political parties in five Central American countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The analysis focuses particularly on the relationship between party fragmentation, party polarization, the level of democracy, and socio-economic modernization. The quantitative analysis uses a cross-national longitudinal research design and tries to overcome shortcomings in prior descriptive approaches based on case studies. The overall findings show that party fragmentation and party polarization are positively related to the level of democracy in Central America.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Teichgräber, Martin H. (Martin Hubert)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Corporate Propaganda Analysis: a Case Study of Nike, Inc. (open access)

Corporate Propaganda Analysis: a Case Study of Nike, Inc.

This study seeks to show how Nike, Inc. has effectively followed a strategy to increase the sale of its products that can be characterized as propaganda. Regarding method, this is a qualitative study which applied the propaganda analysis plan developed by Jowett & O'Donnell (1992) to examine and describe (1) Nike's ideology, (2) corporate structure and culture, (3) purpose, (4) targeted audiences, (5) the dissemination of the propaganda, (6) techniques for increasing its effectiveness, (7) existing counterpropaganda and contradictions, and (8) the effectiveness of the campaign. The study provides evidence that Nike engages in propaganda through an organized, systematic, and deliberate attempt to influence the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and actions of specific audiences for the purpose of accomplishing fixed objectives.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Anderson, Christian S. (Christian Spencer)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alcoholism and the Family: The Destructive Forces in Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles (open access)

Alcoholism and the Family: The Destructive Forces in Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles

This study examines the forces which shaped the main character--Tess Durbeyfield--in Hardy's novel in terms of the effects which her alcoholic family had upon her mental and emotional potential and which ultimately become the determining factors in her self-destruction. Using the elements and patterns set forth in the literature regarding the dynamics of the alcoholic family, I attempt to show that Hardy's novel may best be understood as the story of a woman whose life and destiny are controlled by the consequences of her father's alcoholism. This interpretation seems to account best for many elements of the novel, such as Tess's destruction, and provides a rich appreciation of Hardy's technique and vision.
Date: December 1992
Creator: Alexander, Elizabeth Chenoweth
System: The UNT Digital Library

Parents' Understanding of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The intent of this study was to determine what understanding and knowledge parents had of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP). The study examined whether the beliefs of parents who enrolled their children in a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited program had any impact on their expectations for a philosophy and curriculum that is centered around DAP. In addition, the study examined whether parents' understanding of DAP changed when their children transitioned from infant and toddler programs, to preschool. The study group consisted of parents with children in two privately owned NAEYC accredited centers in 1998 (N=131). Results from parent reports indicated a high level of parent knowledge regarding DAP.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Grebe, Julie M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Standardization of the Assessment of Competency to Stand Trial (open access)

Standardization of the Assessment of Competency to Stand Trial

Evaluations of the Georgia Court Competency Test - Mississippi Version Revised (GCCT-MSH) and the Competency Screening Test (CST) have supported their use with pretrial defendants. The present study evaluated the efficacy of the measures with an inpatient population. Both measures were factor analyzed in an attempt to replicate; previously identified factor structures. Neither factor structure was replicated however, a distinct factor structure was identified for the GCCT-MSH. In addition, the relationship between sociodemographic variables, clinical variables, current symptomatology, and competency status were evaluated using discriminant functions analyses. The results suggest that the best predictors of incompetency in this sample are a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder or a non-psychotic affective disorder and a low measured IQ. Current symptomatology, as measured by the SCL-90-R, was not an effective predictor of competency status in this sample.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Ustad, Karen L. (Karen Lee)
System: The UNT Digital Library