This study delineates the basic concepts and analytical techniques of contemporary French structuralists, namely Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Barthes, Althusser, and Foucault, and critically examines the contribution of their formulations to sociological theory and the implication of such formulations on the methodological orientation in sociology.

The social problem of juvenile delinquency and treatment efforts to alleviate this problem are introduced in this study. Literature related to theories on delinquency, institutional treatment, the role of recreation in correctional settings, and leisure education is reviewed and summarized. A basis for a leisure theory on delinquency is presented, suggesting delinquent behaviors are socially unacceptable leisure pursuits. Implications include efforts to replace delinquent behaviors with socially acceptable leisure pursuits (i.e. recreation).

Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) were recovered from eleven strains (eight serogroups) of Legionella pneumophila by sequential treatment with Tris buffer (pH 8), citrate buffer(pH 2.75) and Tris buffer (pH 8). Transmission electron microscopy revealed clearly the separation of the outer membrane from the bacteria. The development of delayed hypersensitivity was also noted by measuring the area of arythema and induration produced by intradermal injections of the MPSs from Chicago 8 strain. The adjuvants enhanced greatly both active and cell-meditated immunity (CMI). Transient lymphocytopenia with a slight rise in neutrophils was noted in each of the immunized groups. Intraperitoneal challenge, seven days after the OMP booster, of one LD (1.5 x10^6) of legionellae resulted in lymphocytopenia with elevated neutrophils. All immunized rats survived the challenge, although those in the saline-OMP group were clearly the sickest. Post-challenge, legionella antibody titers rose greatly and CMI was heightened. Passive immunization (homologous and heterologous) was found to protect the rats from a challenge of on LD. Actively-immunized rats retained their immunity for at least six months as determined by their resistance to a second challenge.

This study was conceived as an attempt to determine .and analyze factors deterring participation in continuing professional education among social workers in environments where continuing education for relicensure is mandatory and voluntary. The specific research design implemented to complete this study was the ex-post facto descriptive design. The sample included 106 social workers randomly selected in the state of Texas where continuing education is mandatory and 94 social workers in the state of Louisiana where continuing education is voluntary. The instrument used was the Deterrent to Participation Scale developed by Scanlan (1983) and a demographic inventory. Scanlan (1983) earlier identified six factors deterring participation in continuing professional education: Disengagement, Lack of Quality, Family Constraints, Cost, Lack of Benefit, and Work Constraints. The study concluded that social workers in both states considered work constraint as a major factor deterring participation in continuing professional education. Also the factors of cost and lack of quality were also considered as crucial barriers in their efforts to participate in continuing professional education. The Wilks' multivariate test of significance of the means and univariate F tests at alpha level p < .05 revealed differences in the combined mean scores of social workers in both states when …

This research investigates the complementary value of a statement of cash flows (SCF) in a set of published financial statements. Selected accounting studies and selected parts of communication theory are used to argue the case for treating an SCF as a primary financial statement. Ideas adapted from communication theory are also used to decide key issues involved in developing an SCF. Specifically, the study selects a direct rather than a reconciling format for an SCF; it also defines cash to include currency, bank accounts, and marketable securities and exclude claims to cash such as notes and accounts receivable. The definition of cash limits cash flow to strict receipts and disbursements; it excludes constructive receipts and disbursements.

The purpose of this study was to identify childrearing attitudes of Mexican-American mothers with children ages three to five years of age. Specifically the first purpose of this study was to determine childrearing attitudes of Mexican-American mothers with ten years of education or fewer and Mexican-American mothers with eleven years of education or more as identified by the Parent As A Teacher Inventory (PAAT). The second purpose was to identify the relationship of the following demographic variables to childrearing attitudes: mother's age, mother's marital status, family income, sex of child, age of child, access to child, generational status, mother's language and mother's ethnicity. The PAAT and the Parent Information Questionnaire were administered to 112 Mexican-American mothers; 54 Mexican- American mothers with ten years of education or fewer and 58 Mexican-American mothers with eleven years of education or more. The population from which these subjects were drawn were mothers from Mexican-American communities in a North Texas county. Responses on the sample were analyzed using multivariate statistics. Based on the analysis of the data, the following conclusions seem tenable. 1. The Mexican-American mothers with eleven years of education or more have childrearing attitudes which are more positive than the Mexican-American mothers with …

This study examined the contribution of several variables to the prediction of perceived freedom in leisure (PFL) and life satisfaction in older adults. Demographic, health and socioeconomic variables were compared with participation in recreation programs, church involvement and PFL. Church involvement was viewed as a leisure activity rather than a measure of religiosity. The survey instrument incorporated all these variables and was pretested and revised before use in the study. The sample consisted of 198 persons 60 years of age and older who were members of two Southern Baptist churches. Subjects were randomly selected, but persons considered by church staff members to be incapable of completing the survey were eliminated. Surveys were hand delivered and picked up by volunteer workers, and a 38 percent return rate was obtained. Alpha reliability for the church involvement, PFL and life satisfaction scales in the instrument were .87, .94, and .77, respectively. Frequency counts and percentages or means and standard deviations were calculated for the demographic variables. Subjects were categorized by level of involvement in church and community recreation programs. Persons involved in community but not church recreation programs were underrepresented in the sample. A selective sampling procedure was utilized to obtain more respondents …

This study utilized ethnographic methodology to describe the communicative interactional patterns in families with a member who has breast cancer. Three breast cancer patients whose families were between the adolescent and launching of children developmental lifestage (McGoldrick & Carter, 1982) were chosen for the study. Data were collected from a series of three interview sessions over a period of four weeks with a two week time lapse between each of the interview sessions. Interview sessions were conducted in the families' homes by the researcher. All interviews were video and audio tape recorded for the purpose of preserving data for transcribing and coding. Research questions examined individual perception of meaning in regard to the disease, the structure and organization of the family in relation to the illness, and the effects of family communicative interaction on the course and management of the disease. Findings indicated that family members' responses to the diagnosis of "breast cancer were influenced by multi-generational "beliefs. All three families formulated a collective belief which supported the mother's belief about the disease. Each of the three families were mother-centered, and each mother seemed to use a metacommunicative approach to mediating family transactions. Each of the three fathers were reported …

A variety of aquatic bacteria were isolated and tested for their ability to degrade humic substances and their aromatic residues/monomers which serve as precursors of the trihalomethanes (THMs) found in chlorinated drinking waters. The majority of them were Gram-negative, oxidative types dominated by pseudomonads. Most of the 146 isolates were found to utilize as their sole source of carbon several or more of ten aromatic compounds known to be products of degradation of humus and also to be precursors of THMs. The aromatics tested, with percent of the isolates utilizing the compound in parentheses, were: p-hydroxybenzoate (49), vanillic acid (48), 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (16), syringic acid (19), vanillin (30), benzoic acid (27), ferulic acid (34), resorcinol (9), catechol (8) and protocatechuic acid (27).

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if the culture of the student's first language was a significant variable in field-dependent-independent cognitive learning style, and (2) if a student's second language achievement has a significant relationship to variables of grade level, sex, time in an English as a second language (ESL) program, second language proficiency level or cognitive learning style. It was hypothesized that (1) there are significant positive correlations between field-independence and the variables of achievement, proficiency level, and grade level, (2) there are significant positive correlations between second language achievement and proficiency level, grade level and time in an ESL program, (3) there are no significant differences in field-dependence between the sexes or the four cultures of Laotian, Spanish, Tongan, and Vietnamese, and (4) there is no significant difference in the mean achievement score between the sexes.

This study identifies the concepts of reliability, cost of downtime, cost of spare parts, and procurement lead time as the four key moderators of spare parts availability. These concepts are used to establish a model to manage spare parts inventories. Reliability was assessed in terms of developing failure predictions for major component categories. Cost of downtime was evaluated by identifying various methods for determining costs associated with downtime. Cost of spare parts was examined to find correlations with economic indicators. These correlations were used to predict future price movements. Yearly changes in lead time were identified and correlated with economic indexes to develop movement predictability.

The problem of this study was an analysis of major spelling deficiencies among collegiate business students. The purposes were as follows: (1) to develop a diagnostic instrument that will measure spelling deficiencies; and (2) to make recommendations regarding the preparation of materials that will assist students in overcoming these deficiencies. Written assignments prepared by collegiate Business Communication students were examined for spelling errors. Errors were then classified into the following categories: (1) words with "ie" and "ei" ; (2) final "e"; (3) final consonant rule; (4) final "y"; (5) confusion over vowel sounds; (6) pronunciation problems; (7) sound-alikes; (8) plurals; (9) apostrophes; (10) omissions; (11) additions and repetitions; (12) substitutions; (13) demons; and (14) miscellaneous. Percentages of total errors served as a guideline for preparation of a Table of Specifications, and a Spelling Diagnostic Test was developed. Validity of the instrument was determined by a panel of experts. The test was then administered to 214 collegiate business students, and a reliability coefficient of .83 was determined using the split-half method.

The primary purpose of this study was the development of a model graduate program leading to a master's degree in physical education which could be used in Thailand and provide suitable guidelines for Thai colleges and universities interested in establishing such a program. A secondary purpose was to develop a systematic approach for student admission and a retention plan which would be compatible with the current trends and administration of higher education in Thailand. Following a review of the literature that included the history of general education, higher education, and physical education in Thailand as well as graduate study in physical education in the United States, a research instrument was devised to elicit responses from chairpersons of physical education departments in 156 U.S. institutions of higher learning and from a professional panel of five physical educators in Thailand concerning four aspects of master's degree programs in physical education: patterns and organization, curricular concepts, admission and retention requirements, and core course requirements. The return rate for the chairpersons surveyed in the United States was 85 per cent. The responses received from the U.S. and Thai professionals revealed a consensus between the two groups with regard to a number of the items …

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the prevalence of specific learning disabilities in school-aged hearing impaired children based on the proposed theoretical definition of the National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities (1981) and the theoretical definition constructed by the Canadian Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (1981). The operationalization of these theoretical definitions, coupled with the current operational definition issued by the Texas Education Agency (1983), formulated the investigative framework.

The problem of this study was first year student retention at a private university. The purpose of the study was to identify high risk students (dropout prone) by use of the Stratil Counseling Inventory -_ College Form (SCI-C) in order to initiate early intervention counseling and advising. Intrusive counseling was started within the first six weeks of the 1984 fall semester to facilitate the students' transition to college. The population of the study was first-time full-time freshmen students in attendance at Freshmen Orientation the week prior to the beginning of the 1984 academic year. SCI-C instrument consisted of six scales designed to elicit attrition-related information about the firsttime, freshmen students. The scales identified students who were in need of assistance, and they provided a profile of their problem areas. This information, available within ten days after the beginning of classes enabled Student Development personnel to select the students out of the freshman class who needed help and to refer them to university resources for assistance. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the SCI-C data were: (1) students who needed assistance to integrate into the academic and social envrionment of the university were identified by the SCI-C; (2) students at …

The primary purpose of the study was to determine if the funding and revenue conditions which existed prior to the passage of the Tax Relief Amendment of 1978 continued after the enactment of public school finance legislation by the Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Texas Legislatures. Analyses of four research questions were used to accomplish the purpose of the study.

Among the most important characters in contemporary writer Anne Tyler's nine novels of modern American life are her skillfully-drawn managing women who choose the family circle as the arena in which to use their skills and exert their influence. Strong, competent, independent, capable of caring for themselves, their husbands, their children, and others, too, as well as holding outside jobs, these women are the linchpins of their families. Among their most outstanding qualities are their abilities to endure hardships with heads high and skills unhampered. Within this broad category of managing women, Tyler clearly delineates two types of managers: the regenerative managing woman and the rigid managing woman. A major character in every novel, the regenerative managing woman not only endures, she also adapts. The key to her development and her strength is her capacity for trying again, renewing herself, and her family relationships. The evolution of a vital regenerative woman from a lonely childhood through the beginning of her vibrant womanhood is a key element in every Tyler novel. This development always includes an escape from her original family? an attempt to establish her own family; at least one major hardship that often sends her reeling home; and finally, …

This investigation was concerned with the problem that the staff development needs of child-care personnel in juvenile detention facilities in the State of Texas have not been identified and described. The study utilizes the Delphi technique in determining juvenile detention administrators' perceptions of the skills/knowledge required to be a competent detention child-care worker. The assumption was made that detention administrators can supply relevant input to study.

It was the purpose of this research, to develop and test an artificially intelligent, learner-based, computer-assisted physics tutor. The resulting expert system is named ARPHY, an acronym for ARtificially intelligent PHYsics tutor. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase of the research, the system was constructed using Ausubel's advance organizer as a guiding learning theory. The content of accelerated motion was encoded into this organizer after sub-classification according to the learning types identified by Gagnds. The measurement of the student's level of learning was accomplished through the development of questioning strategies based upon Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. The second phase of this research consisted of the testing of ARPHY. Volunteers from four levels of first-semester physics classes at North Texas State University were instructed that their goal was to solve three complex physics problems related to accelerated motion. The only students initially instructed by ARPHY were from the class of physics majors. When the threshold values of the pedagogical parameters stabilized, indicating the fact that ARPHY's instructional technique had adapted to the class' learning style, students from other classes were tutored. Nine of the ten students correctly solved the three problems after being tutored for …

One hundred women aged 20 to 50 were asked to compare their sexual experience before diagnosis and following treatment for benign and malignant cervical disease. The subjects were divided into five groups: three groups had definite cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), (Class II or III). Two groups were treated with cryotherapy, and one with hysterectomy. One group had a provisional diagnosis of CIN I, but received no treatment. Subjects in the last group had microinvasive cervical carcinoma and were also treated with hysterectomy. All subjects had ovarian function; all were sexually active at the time of treatment. They were interviewed at least six months post-cryotherapy and 15 months post-hysterectomy. All subjects completed a variant version of the Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory (DSFI).

This research is concerned with some aspects of the retrieval of information from database systems by casual, naive computer users. A "casual user" is defined as an individual who only wishes to execute queries perhaps once or twice a month, and a "naive user" is someone who has little or no expertise in operating a computer and, more specifically for the purposes of this study, is not practiced at querying a database. The research initially focuses on a specific group of casual, naive users, namely a group of clinicians, and analyzes their characteristics as they pertain to the retrieval of information from a computer database. The characteristics thus elicited are then used to create the requirements for a database interface that would, potentially, be acceptable to this group. An interface having the desired requirements is then proposed. This interface consists, from a user's perspective, of three basic components. A graphical model gives a picture of the database structure. Windows give the ability to view different areas of the database, physically group together items that come under one logical heading and provide the user with immediate access to the data item names used by the system. Finally, a natural language query …

The purpose of this study was to determine whether application forms used in Texas public schools for teachers and administrators were in compliance with federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Texas Human Rights Commission Act (THRCA) regulations regarding preemployment practices. Participating in the study were 740 public school districts in Texas. The study also attempted to determine if these application forms are in violation of EEOC regulations pertaining to pre-employment practices and whether classification based on the districts' size, wealth, student ethnicity and geographical location has a bearing on the degree of compliance with and awareness of EEOC and THRCA regulations. A model employment application form and set of guidelines were developed for school districts to use in securing pre-employment information. Inferential statistics were used through various applicable designs. Three different types of analysis were utilized. These were a Descriptive Analysis, a Goodman- Kruskal Gamma (y) Coefficient—chi-square analysis and a Multiple Regression analysis. The descriptive analysis included the calculation of percentages of the suspect questions appearing on teacher and administrator application forms utilizing the Criteria Used to Determine EEO Compliance and Awareness Among Texas School Districts. The Goodman-Kruskal Gamma (y) Coefficient and the chi-square analysis were employed in order …

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the nature of the relationship between computer related expenditures and student achievement in mathematics, with consideration given to the mediating factors influencing the relationship. Some of these factors included the types of computers and software being used, the objectives of computer instruction, teacher preparation in the use of the computer as an instructional tool, the amount of time individual students had access to a computer during the school year, and the socioeconomic status of pupils. Two of the twenty-five largest school districts in Texas were selected as the subjects for this study. Numerical data were collected from existing documents including general ledgers, bid tabulations, test score tables, and records showing the numbers of students participating in the free and reduced price lunch programs. Specific information regarding the implementations of the instructional programs was gathered through observations and 2 interviews with principals/ teachers, and students in four— teen junior high schools in each of the two school district. The districts exhibited more differences than similarities in the approaches to using computers for instruction in mathematics. One district, for about two hundred dollars per student, purchased a prepared, copyrighted, and patented program consisting …

This investigation studied the impact of male student involvement in selected school activities upon grade-point averages, rates of attendance and college entrance examination scores. The main purpose of this study was to provide data for state officials, school administrators, and school boards as they seek to make decisions concerning the activities program and its place in the educational system. The specific purpose was to determine if involvement in selected school activities had any relationship to the variables grade-point average, attendance, and scores on college entrance examinations. The study was carried out in four large Texas high schools with a total student population of 6,456. Male participants in seven major school activities were randomly selected. This process produced a total sample of 280 male students representing participation in seven activities in four high schools. Each activity was represented by a sample of forty male students. The conclusions were drawn that (1) there is a positive relationship between participation in the activities program by male students and attendance rate, grade-point average, and scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test and (2) there was no negative relationship between participation in the activities program and the participants' ability to receive a high school education.