This study investigated the relationship between certain biographical and personality characteristics and decision-making ability of purchasing personnel as measured by the results achieved in a complex management game.

The purpose of this study was to survey the significant characteristics of language development programs in selected kindergartens. These findings were then compared to the recommendations of authorities in the field.

The problem of this study was to determine the effect of short-duration high-speed drill on speed, accuracy and production rate development in the first year of typewriting.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of comparing a learning systems approach to a lecture-demonstration-rotation approach of teaching the manipulative skills of office machines.

This purpose of this study was to investigate and examine the attitudes of therapists who treat HIV-positive (HIV+) clients. Specifically, therapists' perceptions of their own preparedness in dealing with specific issues and emotions of HIV+ clients were examined. Also, therapists' evaluation of their own efficacy of specific therapeutic approaches with HIV+ clients was examined. These therapists' perceptions and evaluations of all their clients in general were compared to their HIV+ clients. Comparisons were also made within the two groups.

This was a quantitative study designed to determine the role orientation and role behavior of school resource officers in public secondary schools in a metropolitan area of central Texas. The perception of role orientation and role behavior was assessed by two relevant groups: secondary school principals and school resource officers. Each group's perception of role orientation and role behavior was compared to determine if role conflict was an inhibiting factor in the job performance of the recently created school resource officer position. This instrument relied heavily on the work of James Telb who conducted a 1982 study involving the role perceptions of public safety officers in public institutions of higher learning as viewed by senior patrol officers and campus judicial officers. A questionnaire was distributed to both groups to assess perceptions of role orientation of school resource officers as either service oriented or law enforcement oriented. A statistically significant difference in role orientation was identified between groups on two factors: maintenance of traditional police values and police discretionary powers and handling of behavioral scenarios.

This study is an experiment to determine the effectiveness of high-speed drill on speed and accuracy achievement in the first semester of beginning typewriting at the high school level.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between a set of cofactors and severity of cognitive impairment, to determine if there were any factors which significantly predicted more severe neurocognitive deficits in persons with AIDS. Twenty-four male volunteers recruited from community groups and physician referrals participated. Subjects completed several self-report questionnaires eliciting information regarding demographics and risk factor variables, in addition to a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. A severity of cognitive impairment summary score was computed for each subject, reflecting both the number of impaired tests and their distance in the impaired direction from normative data. Neither CD4 count, number of months since diagnosis of AIDS, number of AIDS-related illnesses, number of recent stressors, history of head injury/LOC, history of substance use, current or past psychiatric disorder, history of learning disability nor history of other medical illness were found to be significantly related to severity of cognitive impairment in this sample, after controlling for the effects of age, level of education, estimated premorbid IQ and mood status. However, no reliable conclusions could be drawn from this study because the small sample size resulted in an unacceptably low level of statistical power for the desired regression …

This investigation has determined the presence of biological nitrogen fixation in two reservoirs in the southwestern United States: Lake Arlington and Lake Ray Hubbard. Subsequent tests have gathered baseline data on the effects of various biological, chemical, and physical parameters on in situ nitrogen fixation in these reservoirs. Of specific importance is the relationship between nitrogen fixation arid occasional blooms of blue-green algae which produce such problems as testes and odors in these water-supply impoundments.

Utilizing a sample of community-residing older adults, this pretest-posttest design evaluated the short term (approximately 1 week) impact on everyday functioning of Stress Inoculation (SI) training, a cognitive-behavioral intervention that is essentially a coping skills enhancement program. The targets of training were anxiety and concern about being able to successfully perform everyday living tasks. The training program was contrasted with a no contact (waiting list) control. In an effort to maximize the practical aspects of this study, the assessment battery included the use of two ecologically valid measures of everyday problem solving skills (one self-rated and one interviewer-rated). Also included were a measure of everyday intelligence widely used in gerontological research, two measures of self-efficacy, a geriatric depression scale, a state-trait anxiety scale, and a self-report measure of failures in perception, memory, and motor function. The results suggest that Stress Inoculation training is an effective intervention for improving everyday competence but that personal perceptions of self-efficacy and the emotional states of anxiety and depression mediate treatment effects. In general, only persons with lower levels of self-efficacy and higher levels of anxiety and/or depression saw improvement in their cognitive performance following SI training.

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how Homecourt, a nondirective support group at a public high school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, operates and how it affects students.

Although several studies question information technology's contribution to productivity, organizations continue to invest in client/server systems (CSSs) particularly as enablers of business process reengineering (BPR). These efforts may be wasted if they do not improve business processes. This study focused on business processes and investigated the role of workstation-based CSSs in changing business processes. A multiple case study of workstation-based CSS databases in three organizations was performed with the proposition that they moderate the relation between managerial action and changes within business processes. The research framework suggested that changes to business processes are achieved by reducing uncertainty. In order to measure change in business processes, this study categorized business process change into: (1) compressing sequential tasks across functions, (2) compressing tasks vertically within the managerial hierarchy, (3) eliminating slack resources, (4) reducing the distance between the point of decision and the point of information or eliminating intermediaries, (5) reconfiguring sequential processes to operate in parallel, and (6) linking parallel activities during the process. Data collected from questionnaires, interviews, and observations from three case studies were used to construct network diagrams, relationship matrices, reachability matrices, and task tables of business processes. The results of this research partially support the proposition that …

This study investigated whether a computer-administered mathematics test can provide equivalent results for normal and mathematically disabled students while retaining similar psychometric characteristics of an equivalent paper and pencil version of the test. The overall purpose of the study was twofold. First, the viability of using computer administered assessment with elementary school children was examined. Second, by investigating items on the computer administered mathematics test for potential bias between normally achieving and mathematically disabled populations, it was possible to determine whether certain mathematical concepts consistently distinguish between the two ability groups.

A nonexperimental descriptive study was conducted to determine the interrelatedness among coping strategies, humor and burnout among nursing education faculty. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the constructs of coping strategies and humor which were conceptualized as having a direct relationship to burnout. Areview of the literature concerning coping, humor and burnout supported this proposition and emphasized the need for empirical testing. Coping Humor Scale. Wavs of Coping Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were the instruments used to measure the constructs. Academic history and demographic data sheets were also used. Hie instruments were mailed to 285 nursing faculty teaching in programs of nursing in the Dallas /Fort Worth, Texas area. The return rate for the mailing was 70.07%. Burnout among nursing education faculty showed a low degree of emotional exhaustion (54.8%), a low degree of depersonalization (84.7% and a low degree of personal accomplishment (60.7%). The findings did not reveal a high or low degree of burnout but rather a pattern of burnout suggestive of a different stage. Humor as a coping mechanism during stressful events was not frequently used. The highest proportion of nursing education faculty used distancing (46.53%) as a coping strategy. The second strategy …

The Trinity River flows through the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex in north central Texas where it receives effluents from numerous point sources including seven large regional wastewater treatment facilities. Historically, the Trinity River has been impacted by massive wastewater loadings which often constitute > 80% of the total river discharge during low flow periods. Normally, high mass loadings correspond to the summer months, compounding the effects of a naturally stressful period, characterized by high temperatures and low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Samples from 12 stations were collected quarterly over an 18 month period from the Trinity River and two tributaries. Water samples were analyzed for a variety of water quality variables, including metals, priority pollutants, pesticides, and general water quality parameters. Water samples were also tested for acute and subchronic effects with several test species. Fish were collected at each station and assemblages were characterized using traditional classification techniques and the Index of Biotic Integrity. In addition, sediment samples were assessed for toxic effects which could have adversely impacted fish recruitment and in situ biomonitoring experiments were performed. Quantitative habitat characterization analyses were performed to gain additional information that could possibly explains differences in fish assemblage structure related to habitat variability. Data …

The problem of assessment and diagnosis of depression in the elderly begins with the definition of depression being indefinite. In this study, the theory of learned helplessness was chosen because of its value in organizing research within a learning theory framework. The Beck Depression Inventory, measures of fluid and crystallized intellectual ability, locus of control, and attribution of success and failure were chosen as variables for an exploratory factor analysis. The purpose of selecting these variables was to assess the cognitive, motivational, and affective components of learned helplessness as they affected the responses of elderly subjects to depression items. Self report measures of income, education, and health, were included to assess the relationship of these variables to depression. A somatic factor was predicted to correlate with an affective factor of depression.

Few areas of research in the finance literature have received greater attention than the efficient market hypothesis. Much of the research has been directed toward the securities market while very little research has been done in the real estate markets. The existing research on real estate market efficiency has been either descriptive or illustrative with very little empirical testing being performed. The major reason for the lack of empirical testing has been the inability to develop an adequate data base. The results of the empirical work that has been done do not support the widely held belief that real estate markets are inefficient. This study, using the autoregressive-integrative-moving average (ARIMA) time series analysis technique, tests the weak-form efficiency of the Dallas-Fort Worth office properties real estate market. According to the weak-form efficient market hypothesis, all price information should be capitalized into current real estate prices and not provide the basis for earning abnormal returns in trading. Price data formed from office building sales dating from January, 1979 to January, 1985 are used to test the market. The data was gathered from the files of several professional appraisal firms located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The transaction information includes (1) transaction …

This study provided administrators in a large southern metropolitan public school district an opportunity to participate in a stress-related research study. The questionnaire contained such stress-related probe areas as spiritual beliefs, preferred and imposed (perceived) orders of major-life emphasis areas, professional environment, personal-social environment, and probes into the ethical positions held by the administrators. The professional environment section contained subsets of internal (on-the-job) probes, external (political) probes, as well as personal (incentive) probes.The personal-social environment section was sub-divided into five Maslow hierarchy-of-need related probes such as physiological needs, safety-security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-fulfillment needs. The final section of the instrument sampled the administrators' responses to probes concerning their concepts of God, their concepts of the Bible arid their positions on eight ethical statements.

This study examined the factors related to travel mode choices in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. Changes in population, life style and economy of the Dallas-Fort Worth region over the last few decades demand a careful re-examination of travel demand tools and methods. The purpose of the study was to provide an understanding of transportation modal choice in the region. Those demographic variables best predicting the choices were identified. The Home Interview Survey, a set of disaggregate data from the 19 84 North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Regional Travel Survey, was analyzed using logistic regression. The major findings of the research indicate that about 97 percent of the travelers in the study area used private cars and 3 percent used public transit. Household income and cars-vans were significant explanatory variables. The impact of household income and number of car-vans available upon an individual's decision for travel mode choice were very important. The number of car-vans available in the household, and age of respondents were significant predictors in travel mode. Household members with incomes of $30,000 to $39,000 and those with incomes of at least $50,000 tended to use more private cars than did other income groups. Also, household …

In September, 1979, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued FASB Statement No. 33, which required certain corporations to issue specified supplementary information based on constant dollars and current costs. This information is intended to show the impact of inflation on the reported earnings and capital of business enterprises. Opponents of Statement No. 33 claim that the required supplementary information is difficult to interpret and, therefore, will not be used. Proponents contend that the information is self-explanatory and would highlight the impact of inflation on the performance of business enterprises. Thus, they conclude the supplementary data will be useful to various user groups and will be used. This dissertation's primary objective was to determine whether the supplementary data will be used by financial analysts in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston regions in evaluating an enterprise's operating performance and its ability to maintain physical operating capability and the general purchasing power of financial capital.

The problem of the study was to determine the implications for the collegiate secretarial curriculum based on the need for and use of shorthand by secretaries employed by large businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The purposes of the study were to determine if colleges are justified in offering manual shorthand within their curriculum with the rapid growth of automation in the business world today. It was also the purpose of the study to determine if there was a demand for secretaries with the skill of manual shorthand in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Shorthand was found to be important for recording telephone messages, notes, and instructions, as indicated by the majority of the secretaries.

This study was designed to assess the types of shared service arrangements and the degree of commitment as evidenced by the incorporation of policy statements displayed toward the sharing concept evident in the Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals. The purpose of this research, then, was to identify and evaluate present utilization of shared arrangements to establish a base for comparison and recommendations for future participation by the various categories of hospitals. The conclusions derived from the findings include the following: 1. Shared services promise to be a continuing factor in the operation of the health care industry in the future. 2. Governmental influence and regulation will expand into every area of health care. Hospital administrators must take every opportunity to contribute input to the formulation of these regulations. 3. The selection of products or services to be shared must be handled in a systematic manner complete with a control system to assure continued quality levels. 4. Standardization of product specifications is the single largest obstacle to the expansion of the shared service concept. This obstacle can be removed only through the committed involvement of the medical community. 5. The sharing of services, rather than products, appears to have great potential in terms …

The purpose of the study was to investigate independent piano teachers' view of themselves in the light of selected attributes found in sociological writings on the professions. The research problems were: (a) to determine the attitudes which independent piano teachers held toward selected professional attributes; (b) to determine the relationship between the attitudes toward the professional attributes and selected background variables; and (c) to determine the degree of association between these attributes. The problems were addressed by a questionnaire directed to independent piano teachers active in the area of Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas. Thirty teachers were also interviewed to determine consistency of response and to explore issues which the questionnaire had raised. Reliability and validity were established at acceptable levels. Techniques of statistical analysis included Pearson's product-moment correlation, multiple regression, chi-square in conjunction with Cramer's V_, and factor analysis. The strongest attitudes expressed by the teachers in the study concerned professional self-image, altruism, client orientation, commitment to work, and independence. The most important background variables were age, years of experience, number of students, certification by a professional association, and college degree in music. A multiple regression analysis tested each variable against the dependent variable professional self-image; recognition by others, commitment to …

The purpose of this study was to investigate job satisfaction of full-time faculty members at a large multi-purpose university in relation to gender, rank, and types of activity. The population consisted of 664 full-time faculty members at North Texas State University during the spring semester, 1984. The questionnaire consisted of two parts, the Job Descriptive Index and The Faculty Data Sheet. The theoretical basis of the study was Herzberg's theory of Motivation-Hygiene.