The purpose of this study was to identify indicators of quality for liberal arts colleges and universities as defined by internal and external constituents, and to compare the results of this study with those of two-year public institutions. The internal constituents included college and university presidents and faculty, and the external constituents consisted of officers of Chambers of Commerce and the Kiwanis International, representing business and industry. A survey instrument of 70 items was sent to the constituents of 148 institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A total of 592 surveys were sent with an average response rate of 56.93%. The study was limited to Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges I and Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges II according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. There were 57 survey items identified as indicators of quality by agreement of all respondent group means. The highest ranked indicator of quality was faculty commitment to teaching. The Analysis of Variance revealed close agreement by constituents on 17 of the quality indicators. There was close agreement also that three of the survey items were not indicators of quality. Fisher's Multiple Comparison test revealed that various constituents rated some survey …

Auditors form judgments by integrating the evidence they gather with information stored in memory (knowledge). As they acquire experience, auditors have the opportunity to learn how different patterns of evidence are associated with particular audit problems. Research in experimental psychology has demonstrated that individuals with task-specific experience can match the cues they encounter with patterns they have learned, and form judgments without consciously analyzing the individual cues. Accounting researchers have suggested that auditors develop judgment templates through task-specific experience, and that these knowledge structures automatically provide decisions in familiar situations. I examined whether auditor knowledge leads to reliance on judgment templates. To test this thesis, I synthesized a theoretical framework and developed research hypotheses that predict relationships between task-specific experience (my surrogate for knowledge) and (1) measures of cognitive effort, (2) accuracy of residual memory traces, and (3) performance with respect to identifying potential problems. To test these predictions, I provided senior auditors with comprehensive case materials for a hypothetical client and asked them to use analytical procedures to identify potential audit problems. Subjects acquired information and documented their findings on personal computers using software that I developed to record their activities.

In a rapidly changing environment of growing competition for limited resources and ever increasing operational costs, institutions of higher education must focus on all aspects of the organizational functions to insure institutional effectiveness and the maximization of student success. This study will use a Student Environment Model (SEM) to assess students' perception of their college environment outside of the formal classroom at a unique two year technical college. The information obtained is used by the administration of Texas State Technical College Waco (TSTCW) to make appropriate adjustments in programs, services, or policies when the student data indicates that change or improvement is needed. While the SEM provides an indication of the students' "image" of the college environment, it can also provide indicators of areas which need improvement or require change. Applying the SEM information to decision making, problem solving, and planning will allow the institution and its people to move toward higher productivity and continuous quality improvement.

The problem of this study was the identification of effective and efficient means of providing quality staff development for reading instruction within a school-district setting. The study investigated the comparative effectiveness of two staff development delivery systems measured by 1) a cognitive test of a school district's reading program and 2) an affective measure of teacher attitudes toward staff development. The sample was drawn from the teacher population of a large urban school district. The 46 subjects were elementary school teachers in grades K-5 randomly divided into two groups: Group A (videotape with a trained on-site facilitator) and Group B (face-to-face live presenter). Participants in the study received training using "The Fort Worth Reading Program," a staff development program designed by the researcher. In addition to the presentation of content information, which is the central component, the program features small group discussions, off-line activities, and question and answer periods. Both groups received the same treatment with the following exception. A central component to the Group A training was the presentation of content information in a videotape format. Group B did not view the videotape, but received the same information via live presenter. Two instruments developed by the researcher were used …

This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of participation in a Supplemental Instruction (SI) program on student test performance in a second-level developmental mathematics class in a four-year university setting. This research deviated from past research on Supplemental Instruction in that it examined effects of the program at the end of each test block rather than at the end of the course only. The quasi-experimental design was precipitated by an inability to control factors of participation and limited sample size. Test data were analyzed using analysis of variance; final course grades were analyzed using chi-square.

This cross-sectional study compared three groups of grandparents, two custodial and one noncustodial, to identify and delineate the unique challenges and expectations faced by custodial grandparents due to their nontraditional roles while attempting to disentangle grandparental role demands from child-specific problems as sources of distress. Those grandparents raising grandchildren demonstrating neurological, physical, emotional, or behavioral problems exhibited the most distress, the most disruption of roles, and the most deteriorated grandparent-grandchild relationships. Although the custodial grandparents raising apparently normal grandchildren demonstrated less distress, less disruption of roles, and less deterioration of the grandparent-grandchild relationship than those grandparents raising grandchildren displaying problems, they still demonstrated higher levels than did traditional grandparents. Those grandparents who reported fewer resources, demonstrated poor attitudes regarding seeking mental health services, and reported raising grandchildren displaying problems had the lowest levels of adjustment.

The major purpose of this study is to analyze hazardous waste enforcement by the states as mandated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). States' historical enforcement records from 1980 to 1990 are analyzed to determine the pattern of variations in enforcement. This study differs from previous studies on hazardous waste regulation in that it employs longitudinal data from 1980 to 1990 to analyze states' enforcement effort.

Memory performance was measured in 48 persons between the ages of 40 - 65 with Type II diabetes. Correlations between performance on the California Verbal Learning Test, tests of Working Memory, Priming Memory, and Prospective Memory and several predictor variables were examined. These variables included the Slosson Intelligence Test Scores, demographic variables, presence of diabetic complications, finger-stick and HbA1c measures. Subjects performed worse than the normative sample on the California Verbal Learning Test. Higher chronic and acute blood glucose tended to be associated with worse performance on the CVLT, Priming, and Working Memory. However, after the effects of intelligence, education, and sex were statistically controlled, glycemic status predicted performance on just a few memory measures. These were short-delay recall compared with recall on List A trial 5, and List B on the CVLT, and recall accuracy on digit forward of the Working Memory Test. Glucose status was unrelated to performance on a prospective memory test. Several other demographic and diabetic complication factors predicted performance beyond the contribution of intelligence. These results contrast with previous studies which found strong effects of glycemic control, but did not statistically control for the contribution of intelligence. Differential effects of diabetic status on different aspects …

A group of azabiphenyl complexes and supramolecules, and their reduced and oxidized forms when possible, were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and electronic absorption spectroscopy. The oxidized and reduced species, if sufficiently stable, were further generated electrochemically inside a specially designed quartz cell with optically transparent electrode, so that the spectra of the electrochemically generated species could be taken in situ. Assignments were proposed for both parent and product electronic spectra. Species investigated included a range of Ru(II) and Pt(II) complexes, as well as catenanes and their comparents. Using the localized electronic model, the electrochemical reduction can be in most cases assigned as azabiphenyl-based, and the oxidation as transition metal-based. This is consistent with the fact that the azabiphenyl compounds have a low lying π* orbital. The electronic absorption spectra of the compounds under study are mainly composed of π —> π* bands with, in some cases, charge transfer bands also.

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of faculty at: (1) Division I NCAA and NAIA institutions, (2) Division I and II NAIA institutions on selected issues related to intercollegiate athletics, and (3) Division I NCAA and NAIA institutions toward selected issues related to intercollegiate athletics when demographics variables are considered. The problem was to determine if there were significant differences between the attitudes of the faculties.

In this study, I expand the scope of the scholarship that Walter Ong and others have done in orality-literacy relations to examine the often uneasy juxtaposition of the oral and written traditions in the literature of the Victorian pulpit. I begin by examining the intersections of the oral and written traditions found in both the theory and the practice of Victorian preaching. I discuss the prominent place of the sermon within both the print and oral cultures of Victorian Britain; argue that the sermon's status as both oration and essay places it in the genre of "oral literature"; and analyze the debate over the extent to which writing should be employed in the preparation and delivery of sermons.

Soil contamination by gasoline underground storage tanks is a critical environmental problem. The results herein show that in situ bioremediation using indigenous soil microorganisms is the method of choice. Five sites were selected for bioremediation based on the levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene and the amount of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil. Bacteria capable of degrading these contaminants were selected from the contaminated sites and grown in 1,200 I mass cultures. These were added to the soil together with nutrients, water and air via PVC pipes.

Laboratory research was performed to understand leadership by attempting to link EEG baseline frequency patterns with data from the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire (LOQ) assessment survey. Research began with 293 right-handed males, 18 to 26 years-old, who completed the LOQ. Based on their scores, 61 subjects, grouped by the Ohio State Leadership Quadrants, were tested using brain-mapping technology.

Although the primary role of the computer has been in processing and analysis of survey data, it has increasingly been used in data collection. Computer surveys are not exempt from a common problem: some refuse to participate. Many researchers and practitioners indicate the refusal problem is less for computer surveys, perhaps due to the novelty of the method. What has not been investigated is the refusal problem when on-line surveys are no longer novel. This research study examines the use of one form of computer-assisted data collection, the electronic or on-line survey, as an organizational research tool. The study utilized historical response data and administered an on-line survey to individuals known to be cooperative or uncooperative in other on-line surveys. It investigated nonresponse bias and response effects of typical responders, periodic participants, and typical refusers within a sample of corporate employees in a computer-interactive interviewing environment utilizing on-line surveys. The items measured included: participation, respondent characteristics, response speed, interview length, perceived versus actual interview length, quantity of data, item nonresponse, item response bias, consistency of response, extremity of response, and early and late response. It also evaluated factors reported as important when deciding to participate, preferred data collection method, and …

A new method for the general application of quadratic spatial/spatial frequency domain filtering to imagery is presented in this dissertation. The major contribution of this research is the development of an original algorithm for approximating the inverse psuedo Wigner distribution through synthesis of an image in the spatial domain which approximates the result of filtering an original image in the DPWD domain.

The effects of skin burn injury on the levels of oxidized and reduced glutthione, malondialdehyde, and on the activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase, and glutathione reductase were determined in liver and lung of rabbit models, 24-h post-burn.

George Walker, pianist, composer and pedagogue, composed piano sonatas in 1953, 1957, 1975, and 1984. The Sonata No. 4 demonstrates the composer's continued fascination with a relaxation of traditional forms, coloristic effects of persistent interval combinations, incorporation of folk elements into his thematic material, and harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings as structural bases to his work.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the choral works of Colin Brumby, with a special focus on the musical-textual relationships of selected works from his body of choral compositions, which number more than one hundred and twenty. This investigation includes information gathered in Australia at the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, and the Australian Music Centre, as well as information furnished in a personal interview with the composer in Brisbane, Australia, in June 1994, in addition to an August 1994 telephone interview cnducted with Thomas Shapcott, the Australian poet with whom Brumby collaberated on over twenty choral compositions.

Rapid receptive field (RF) reorganization of somatosensory neurons in the cat dorsal column nuclei (DCN) was studied using electrophysiological and histological methods. Soon after denervation of the peripheral RF by lidocaine injection, every DCN neuron tested exhibited a reorganized RF.

The purpose of this dissertation is to prepare and present a critical edition of Carl Nielsen's Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, a major work in the woodwind quintet repertoire. Written for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet in 1922, it is also considered a pivotal composition in Nielsen's artistic output. This treatise offers a brief biography of Carl Nielsen, documents the history and significance of the Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, and presents a critical edition that will enable more accurate performances of this important composition.

The poetry of T. S. Eliot represents intense yet discriminate expressions of desire. His poetry is a poetry of desire that extenuates the long tradition of love poetry in Occidental culture. The unique and paradoxical element of love in Occidental culture is that it is based on an ideal of the unconsummated love relationship between man and woman. The struggle to express desire, yet remain true to ideals that have deep sacred and secular significance is the key animating factor of Eliot's poetry. To conceal and reveal desire, Eliot made use of four core elements of modernism: the apocalyptic vision, Pound's Imagism, the conflict between organic and mechanic sources of sublimity, and precisionism. Together, all four elements form a critical and philosophical matrix that allows for the discreet expression of desire in what Foucault calls the silences of Victorianism, yet Eliot still manages to reveal it in his major poetry. In Prufrock, Eliot uses precisionism to conceal and reveal desire with conflicting patterns of sound, syntax, and image. In The Waste Land, desire is expressed as negation, primarily as shame, sadness, and violence. The negation of desire occurred only after Pound had excised explicit references to desire, indicating Eliot's struggle …

This study describes the development of the black business and professional community with emphasis on the period from 1920 to 1930, the riot itself, and the impact of the episode on the local black community. It utilizes traditional historical research methods, county records, contemporary newspapers, and oral history.

Random number generators (RNGs) are widely used in conducting Monte Carlo simulation studies, which are important in the field of statistics for comparing power, mean differences, or distribution shapes between statistical approaches. Statistical results, however, may differ when different random number generators are used. Often older methods have been blindly used with no understanding of their limitations. Many random functions supplied with computers today have been found to be comparatively unsatisfactory. In this study, five multiplicative linear congruential generators (MLCGs) were chosen which are provided in the following statistical packages: RANDU (IBM), RNUN (IMSL), RANUNI (SAS), UNIFORM(SPSS), and RANDOM (BMDP). Using a personal computer (PC), an empirical investigation was performed using five criteria: period length before repeating random numbers, distribution shape, correlation between adjacent numbers, density of distributions and normal approach of random number generator (RNG) in a normal function. All RNG FORTRAN programs were rewritten into Pascal which is more efficient language for the PC. Sets of random numbers were generated using different starting values. A good RNG should have the following properties: a long enough period; a well-structured pattern in distribution; independence between random number sequences; random and uniform distribution; and a good normal approach in the normal …

This research explores whether a firm's psychosocial stressors contribute to strains or outcomes important to the organization. The psychosocial stressors chosen for study include: role conflict and ambiguity, workload (qualitative and quantitative), participative decision making, autonomy, and security. Independent variables were the emotional strains of job satisfaction and job commitment. The independent variables for behavioral strains included injury, lost days, workers' compensation claims, and absenteeism. Three moderators: age, gender, and social support were evaluated for interaction effects. The study sampled 77 occupationally injured and 81 non-injured employees from one medium sized Army community hospital. This study uses multivariate hierarchical multiple set regression as its principal analytical method. The hierarchial procedure orders the sets into an a priori hierarchy and enters each set sequentially from the hierarchy, evaluating the increase in $\rm R\sp2.$ The results suggest that psychosocial stressors are significant variables to consider when investigating workers' emotional and behavioral strains. For example, age, participation, and satisfaction were found statistically significant in differentiating between the occupationally injured and the non-injured samples. The study also found that ambiguity, participation, and autonomy influenced emotional strains. Additionally, age and social support appear to moderate the relationship between some psychosocial factors and emotional and behavioral …