1,824 Matching Results

Results open in a new window/tab.

Perceptions of Work Group and Managerial Behaviors as Antecedents of a Salesperson's Commitment, Performance, and Turnover (open access)

Perceptions of Work Group and Managerial Behaviors as Antecedents of a Salesperson's Commitment, Performance, and Turnover

Theoretically grounded and empirically testable conceptualizations that offer alternative explanations regarding sales force performance and turnover can: (a) enhance understanding regarding these pivotal outcomes, and (b) augment an organization's capability to increase sales and decrease turnover. The study advances one such explanation by conceptualizing and testing a perceptual model that links a salesperson's psychological climate dimensions to organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The framework the study proposes respecifies the leadership and work group dimensions of psychological climate into four distinct perceptions (i.e., a salesperson's perceptions regarding the behaviors of work group, sales manager, senior management, and non sales employees in the organization). These climate dimensions are posited to influence positively a salesperson's organizational commitment which consequently influences positively the salesperson's effort and intention to stay with the organization. The proposed outcomes of organizational commitment result in increased performance and decreased turnover. Success beliefs and perceived behavioral control are posited to moderate the relationship between the salesperson's organizational commitment and effort. The study tests the hypothesized relationships on a sample of salespersons belonging to a telecommunications organization utilizing path and hierarchical regression analyses.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Gulati, Rajesh, 1964-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Thermodynamic Properties of Nonelectrolyte Solutes in Ternary Solvent Mixtures (open access)

Thermodynamic Properties of Nonelectrolyte Solutes in Ternary Solvent Mixtures

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the thermodynamic properties of nonelectrolyte solutes dissolved in ternary solvent mixtures, and to develop mathematical expressions for predicting and describing that behavior in the solvent mixtures. Thirty-four ternary solvent systems were studied containing either alcohol (1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, and 2-butanol), alkane (cyclohexane, heptane, and 2,2,4-trimethylpentane) or alkoxyalcohol (2-ethoxyethanol and 2-butoxyethanol) cosolvents. Approximately 2500 experimental measurements were performed. Expressions were derived from the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent (NIMS)/Redlich-Kister, the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent (NIMS)/Bertrand, Acree and Burchfield (BAB) and the Modified Wilson models for predicting solute solubility in ternary solvent (or even higher multicomponent) mixtures based upon the model constants calculated from solubility data in sub-binary solvents. Average percent deviation between predicted and observed values were less than 2%, documenting that these models provide a fairly accurate description of the thermodynamic properties of nonelectrolyte solutions. Moreover, the models can be used for solubility prediction in solvent mixtures in order to find the optimum solvent composition for solubilization or desolubilization of a solute. From a computational standpoint, the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent/Redlich-Kister equation is preferred because the needed model constants can be calculated with a simple linear regressional analysis. Model constants …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Deng, Tʻai-ho
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Timed vs. Untimed Initiation Intervals and the Effects of Confidence on a Golf Putting Task (open access)

Timed vs. Untimed Initiation Intervals and the Effects of Confidence on a Golf Putting Task

Low, moderate, and high handicap golfers, while wearing glasses with a blinder on the side, attempted 9 putts differing in length from 5 to 21 ft under timed (less than 3.5s from grounding of club to initiation of back swing) and untimed conditions in a counterbalanced design. Confidence ratings were taken prior to and following each putt. The results revealed a significant condition by handicap group interaction (p=.021). The lower handicap group had a more consistent and lower initiation interval duration than did the moderate and high handicap players. Post interviews determined that 33 of the 35 golfers felt more comfortable in the untimed condition. However, golfers' confidence levels were not significantly different in the untimed condition as compared to the timed condition.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Sundberg, Jeffrey D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920 (open access)

Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920

This study concentrates on the social status of women in one southern town during the late nineteenth century and the Progressive Era.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Rowe, Beverly J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reverberating Reflections of Whitman: A Dark Romantic Revealed (open access)

Reverberating Reflections of Whitman: A Dark Romantic Revealed

Walt Whitman has long been celebrated as a Romantic writer who celebrates the self, reveres Nature, claims unity in all things, and sings praises to humanity. However, some of what Whitman has to say has been overlooked. Whitman often questioned the goodness of humanity. He recognized evil in various shapes. He pondered death and the imperturbability of Nature to human death. He exhibited nightmarish imagery in some of his works and gory violence in others. While Whitman has long been called a celebratory poet, he is nevertheless also in part a writer of the Dark Romantic.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Lundy, Lisa Kirkpatrick
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strain, Social Support, and the Meaning of Work for New Mothers (open access)

Strain, Social Support, and the Meaning of Work for New Mothers

The purpose of this study was to describe the relative importance of aspects of the occupational environment in predicting personal strain and changes in the meaning of work (perceived changes in work role salience and work values) during the transition to parenthood. The aspects of the work environment under investigation were: work interference with family, family interference with work, supervisor support for combining work and family, and organization support (respect, separation, and integration types). Control variables were husband support, an important factor in adjustment during the transition to parenthood, and socioeconomic status. A sample of 118 women in dual career couples with one child under two years of age were recruited through childcare centers and newspaper announcements. The sample was predominantly Caucasian and middle or upper-middle class. Subjects completed self-report questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression. Results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that workplace support and work/family interference would contribute to personal strain. Only family interference with work emerged as a significant predictor. The results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that husband support, workplace support, and work/family interference would contribute to change in work values. Only husband support was a …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Hallett, Catherine Croghan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Modeling, Roleplaying and Feedback on the Performance of Teachers of Children with Autism (open access)

The Effects of Modeling, Roleplaying and Feedback on the Performance of Teachers of Children with Autism

Teachers providing treatment to children with autism are responsible for implementing numerous procedures. Teacher training has not been addressed extensively in the literature. This study employed a multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of a training package incorporating modeling, roleplaying and feedback on teacher performance. Results indicated that the teacher implemented correct teaching episodes following training. Changes in teacher performance were only observed when the training package was applied to each setting and skill area. As a result of changes in teacher behavior, the child demonstrated an increase in the number of desired responses. Results are discussed in the context of generalization, training package components, cost-benefit of single-subject designs, and limitations of the study.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Edwards, Carla Ward
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam (open access)

The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam

Bonnie Singleton, wife of United States Air Force helicopter rescue pilot Jerry Singleton, saw her world turned upside down when her husband was shot down while making a rescue in North Vietnam in 1965. At first, the United States government advised her to say very little publicly concerning her husband, and she complied. After the capture of the American spy ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea, and the apparent success in freeing the naval prisoners when Mrs. Rose Bucher, the ship captain's wife, spoke out, Mrs. Singleton changed her opinion and embarked upon a campaign to raise public awareness about American prisoners of war held by the Communist forces in Southeast Asia. Mrs. Singleton, along with other Dallas-area family members, formed local grass-roots organizations to notify people around the world about the plight of American POWs. They enlisted the aid of influential congressmen, such as Olin "Tiger" Teague of College Station, Texas; President Richard M. Nixon and his administration; millionaire Dallas businessman Ross Perot; WFAA television in Dallas; and other news media outlets worldwide. In time, Bonnie Singleton, other family members, and the focus groups they helped start encouraged North Vietnam to release the names of prisoners, allow mail …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Garrett, Dave L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Problem-Based Learning for Training Teachers of Students with Behavioral Disorders in Hong Kong (open access)

Problem-Based Learning for Training Teachers of Students with Behavioral Disorders in Hong Kong

This study attempts to explore the perceived value of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in training teachers of students with behavioral disorders (E/BD) in Hong Kong. It represents an effort to improve the predominately lecture focussed approach adopted in many preparation programs. Data on the training needs of Hong Kong teachers were also acquired and 31 knowledge/skills areas related to teaching students with E/BD were identified. Subjects viewed the PBL approach as dynamic, interesting and incentive driven. It develops skills involved in group learning, self-directed learning, use of information resources and problem-solving. Most important, teachers felt they were supported to explore the practical problems they personally encountered in the classroom and actions they could take to resolve them. Difficulties in using PBL included a lack of resources and the tendencies of most Chinese students to accept rather than challenge others' ideas.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Heung, Vivian Woon King
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Theological Distance Learning through Trinity College and Theological Seminary: Programs, Problems, Perceptions, and Prospects (open access)

Theological Distance Learning through Trinity College and Theological Seminary: Programs, Problems, Perceptions, and Prospects

An international survey was conducted to assess theological higher education via distance learning as perceived by graduates of Trinity College and Theological Seminary's (Trinity) doctoral programs. The purpose of the study was to determine student-perceived strengths and weaknesses of Trinity's doctoral-level distance education theology programs. Also, the future of distance-learning mediated programs of theological higher education was speculated. A random sample of 400 doctoral recipients was selected from the population of 802 doctoral recipients who graduated from Trinity between the years of 1969 and March 1998. A mailed questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 203 (50.0%) were returned. Frequency counts, percentage distributions, and chi-square tests of goodness-of-fit were employed to analyze the data. A profile of the modal type of student who would participate in theological distance education at the doctoral level was developed from the demographic variables queried. Responses to questions regarding respondents' educational experiences and coursework were solicited as well. Respondents identified five primary strengths of Trinity's distance education doctoral programs as: the convenience of the program; the immediate application of course content to personal and professional endeavors; the quality of education provided; the Biblical groundedness of the curricula, the materials, and the faculty; and …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Ray, Abby A. (Abby Adams)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Why Orville and Wilbur Built an Airplane (open access)

Why Orville and Wilbur Built an Airplane

This dissertation comprises two sections. The title section collects a volume of the author's original poetry, subdivided into four parts. The concerns of this section are largely aesthetic, although some of the poems involve issues that emerge in the introductory essay. The introductory essay itself looks at slightly over three centuries of poetry in English, and focuses on three representative poems from three distinct periods: the long eighteenth century and the Romantic period in England, and the Post-war period in the United States. John Dryden's translation of Ovid's "Cinyras and Myrrha," John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," and James Dickey's "The Sheep Child," whatever their stylistic and aesthetic differences may be, all share a concern with taboo. Each of the poems, in its own way, embraces taboo while transgressing societal norms in order to effect a synthesis that merges subject and object in dialectical transcendence. For Dryden, the operative taboo is that placed on incest. In his translation of Ovid, Dryden seizes on the notion of incest as a metaphor for translation itself and views the violation of taboo as fructifying. Keats, in his Nightingale ode, toys with the idea of suicide and reconstructs a world both natural and mythic …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Jenkinson, John S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Points Versus Sounds as Reinforces in Human Operant Research (open access)

A Comparison of Points Versus Sounds as Reinforces in Human Operant Research

Research shows that human operant behavior typically differs from non-human operant behavior on schedules of reinforcement. These differences in performance may be related to differences between the experimental preparations used to study human and non-human operant behavior. One such difference is the type of reinforcer used. This experiment analyzed the differential effects of points alone, points backed up by money, and sounds on schedule performance of human subjects. Results show that sounds generated moderate rates of responding, capable of change in either direction. When points backed up with money were the reinforcers, however, high rates of behavior were generated, disrupting the previously established baseline performance. This suggests that while points may be effective in generating high rates of behavior, they may be ineffective in producing sensitive baselines needed to study human operant behavior on schedules of reinforcement.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Rouse, Susan L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between the Grief Process and the Family System: The Role of Affect, Communication, and Cohesion (open access)

The Relationship Between the Grief Process and the Family System: The Role of Affect, Communication, and Cohesion

Sixty-six people who had recently experienced the death of a parent or a spouse completed a questionnaire packet to assess their current grief symptomatology and some characteristics of the relationships within their family. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire 4-5 weeks after the death and then again six months later. The present study compared two competing models to explain whether the grief process affects the characteristics of relationships within the family system or that family characteristics affect the experienced grief symptoms.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Schoka, Elaine
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sexual Identity Development and Heterosexual Mistrust: An Exploratory Study (open access)

Sexual Identity Development and Heterosexual Mistrust: An Exploratory Study

The sexual identity development process in gay men was the focus of this study. It was theorized that, as a result of negative experiences with the dominant heterosexual culture, gay men might feel mistrustful of heterosexuals in various settings. A new theoretical construct, that of heterosexual mistrust, was identified and explored. A new scale, the Heterosexual Mistrust Inventory (HMI), was created to measure this construct. Gay male subjects' stage of homosexual identity formation (HIF) was also determined. Results indicated that heterosexual mistrust existed to a significantly stronger degree among gay men than among heterosexual men. Heterosexual mistrust was strongly related to stage of HIF. The various settings in which heterosexual mistrust was found to occur were discussed. Implications for current knowledge about HIF and about cultural belief systems unique to gay men were identified and explored.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Shepard, William D., 1965-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis and Alkali Metal Extraction Properties of Novel Cage-Functionalized Crown Coronands and Cryptands (open access)

Synthesis and Alkali Metal Extraction Properties of Novel Cage-Functionalized Crown Coronands and Cryptands

A novel crown ether precursor was developed in which a rigid 4-oxahexacyclo (5.4.1.26.3,10.05,9.08,11) dodecyl cage moiety ("cage functionality") was incorporated.
Date: August 1999
Creator: McKim, Artie S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Father Absence, Onset of Menarche, and Body Dissatisfaction: Importance of Father Absence (open access)

Father Absence, Onset of Menarche, and Body Dissatisfaction: Importance of Father Absence

Relationships between body dissatisfaction, dieting methods, father absence, and puberty timing were investigated in this study. Participants included adolescent females from Wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Logistic regression results indicated that girls without a biological father in the home were significantly more likely to have an early onset of puberty than on-time or late. Girls who experienced early puberty exhibited higher levels of body dissatisfaction, but didn't use more dieting methods. Early onset girls more likely used dieting methods if their biological father was present than absent; however, no significant difference in body dissatisfaction was shown. A negative relationship with fathers indicated more body dissatisfaction. None of the attained findings were found when the biological mother was absent, and having a stepfather did not seem to matter. Evidence was revealed that fathers play a role in their daughters' view of their own bodies.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Gartrell, Stacey R.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Brief Exposure to Non Traditional Media Messages on Female Body Image (open access)

The Effects of Brief Exposure to Non Traditional Media Messages on Female Body Image

Body image may be defined as the perception or attitude one has regarding the appearance of his or her body. Body image concerns are not only central to the diagnostic criteria of eating disorders, but also create distress for nonclinical populations. Females (n = 167) from three universities participated in a study by completing the Eating Disorder Inventory - 2 (Garner, 1991) and the Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schulsinger, 1983); watching a video; and then completing the instruments again. Subjects in the treatment group (n = 89) viewed a video designed to increase awareness of unrealistic body sizes and shapes seen in the media (Kilbourne, 1995). Subjects in the comparison group (n = 77) viewed a video unrelated to female body image.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Garber, Carla F.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biotic Factors and Temperature Tolerances via Critical Thermal Methodology in Goldfish (open access)

Biotic Factors and Temperature Tolerances via Critical Thermal Methodology in Goldfish

CTMinimum and CTMaximum were measured in 620 goldfish to determine if biotic factors, in particular starvation, condition factor and size, affect temperature tolerance. Twenty-eight days of starvation adversely affected both upper and lower temperature tolerance. Condition factor was related to upper but not lower temperature tolerance.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Ford, Tiiu Kirsti, 1972-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nursing Home Oversight: Industry Examples Do Not Demonstrate That Regulatory Actions Were Unreasonable (open access)

Nursing Home Oversight: Industry Examples Do Not Demonstrate That Regulatory Actions Were Unreasonable

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed materials from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) to determine whether any cases reflected the actions of an overly aggressive regulatory process."
Date: August 13, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Personnel: Perspectives of Surveyed Members in Retention Critical Specialities (open access)

Military Personnel: Perspectives of Surveyed Members in Retention Critical Specialities

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the quality of life and retention in the military, focusing on: (1) military personnel's overall intentions to stay or leave the military; (2) military personnel's levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the military; (3) factors that affect dissatisfaction and intent to leave the military; and (4) factors that affect satisfaction and intentions to stay in the military."
Date: August 16, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Independent Counsel: Expenditure and Other Information for the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr (open access)

Independent Counsel: Expenditure and Other Information for the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the expenditures for the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, focusing on the office's responses to 46 questions grouped into 11 categories."
Date: August 26, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic Warfare: Army Special Operations Acquisition Strategy for Improved Equipment Is Sound (open access)

Electronic Warfare: Army Special Operations Acquisition Strategy for Improved Equipment Is Sound

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. Special Operations Command's (USSCOM) acquisition strategy for aircraft electronic warfare systems, focusing on the soundness of USSCOM's electronic warfare acquisition strategy in terms of correcting deficiencies and maximizing commonality in its aircraft survivability equipment."
Date: August 23, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conservation Reserve Program: Funding Requirements for the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Technical Assistance (open access)

Conservation Reserve Program: Funding Requirements for the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Technical Assistance

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the funding requirements for the technical assistance that the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides to the Conservation Reserve Program, focusing on: (1) the nature and costs of the Conservation Service's technical assistance; (2) the reasons the Conservation Service suspended its technical assistance for the program; (3) budgetary authorities and other statutory requirements that constrain the Conservation Service's performance of technical assistance for the program; and (4) the potential to use contractors to provide this assistance in lieu of the Conservation Service."
Date: August 5, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security: Issues in Comparing Rates of Return With Market Investments (open access)

Social Security: Issues in Comparing Rates of Return With Market Investments

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) examined the estimates of social security's implicit rates of return for different birth years, earning levels, household configurations, and other demographic groupings; (2) examined rates of return available on private market investments; and (3) discussed the issues that arise from comparing social security and market investment returns."
Date: August 5, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library