Journey back home: Self, place and remembering among residents in long-term care settings

Chaudhury, Habib Numan The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The premise of this exploratory study lies in the inescapable fact that human experience occurs within the context of place. Places, especially personally meaningful ones, may serve as mnemonic anchors in autobiographical recollections, even for the cognitively impaired, and be a means of recalling who we are. A conceptual framework with recollection of past places as an ongoing dialogue between “I” and “Me” guided the empirical study. Recollection of the personal past is considered as a creative and dynamic process. This study explored the following interrelated research questions: (a) What are the emergent themes in recollection of past places for cognitively intact residents in long-term care settings? (b) Is place recollected by cognitively impaired residents? (c) What are the dimensions of place recollection by cognitively impaired residents? (d) Can place-related prompts trigger recollection of past places by cognitively impaired residents? (e) What are the differences in recollection of places in cognitively intact and impaired residents? (f) Can art be a medium for place-based recollection for cognitively impaired residents? and (g) What is the value of cognitively impaired residents' place-biosketches for staff in long-term care facilities?. This study draws on interviews with eight cognitively intact residents, fifteen family members of residents with dementia, and thirteen residents with dementia. All residents were living in four nursing homes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Generic questions exploring past places, e.g., homes, neighborhoods, schools, etc. were used in interviews with cognitively intact residents and family members; place-related biographical information and personal and generic photographs were used as prompts in conversations with cognitively impaired residents. Art as a medium of place-based recollection was explored for cognitively impaired residents. Conclusions of the study include: (a) place experiences were recollected by all cognitively intact residents; (b) recollections of places were embedded within broader lived experiences; (c) verbal and visual prompts were effective in triggering recollections in residents with dementia; (d) personal visual prompts were more effective than generic visual prompts; (e) childhood place experiences were more frequently and vividly recollected than adulthood memories by residents with dementia; and (f) place-based recollection can serve as an avenue for maintaining and/or re-establishing a sense of self.

Alcohol and the workplace: The relationship between work environment and employee alcohol problems

Berger, Lisa The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

This study examined the relationship between certain work environmental risk factors and employee alcohol problems. The study utilized the conceptual framework of Ames' and Janes' (1992) workplace environmental dimensions of normative regulation of drinking, quality and organization of work, factors external to the workplace, and workplace drinking subcultures to explore previous findings regarding the relationships of these dimensions to employee alcohol problems. The study extends previous research by surveying and interviewing union-represented male and female Administrative Support Unit (ASU) and Blue Collar (BC) employees from a large, American Midwest public urban university. Out of the 440 ASU and BC employees invited to participate in the study, 299 returned a completed survey for an overall survey response rate of 68.0%. In addition, seven employees also were interviewed. The main study findings included that of current drinkers, male and female BC workers (12.5% and 29.5%, respectively) were more likely than their ASU counterparts (6.8% and 12.5%, respectively) to be problem drinkers. In addition, BC workers were found to have less education and less family income than ASU workers. These findings confirm previous research regarding an inverse relationship between the socioeconomic status of occupations and employee alcohol problems (e.g., Ojesjo, and Parker & Farmer as cited in Parker & Harford, 1992, p. 103). Study results also found that as informal social controls decreased in a work environment, the frequency of employee drinking on-the-job increased. This finding was not unexpected because relevant literature indicates that workers respond more to proximal social behavioral expectations or lack of these expectations than to distant formal company policies regarding drinking on-the-job (Ames & Janes, 1992, p. 113). Finally, employee problem drinkers were found to work in environments significantly higher in physical hazards when compared to employee social drinkers, and this relationship remained even after employee background factors were statistically controlled for. It should be noted, however, that employee background factors were more strongly associated with employee problem drinking than physically hazardous work environments. This latter finding is consistent with previous research that employee background factors can fully account for the relationship between job physical risk and employee problem drinking (Lehman & Bennett, 2002, pp. 275 & 282). Study implications include the lower the socioeconomic status of employees, as measured by employee education, income, and their occupation, the greater the risk for employee alcohol problems. The lack of informal social controls as risk factors in the work environment can be connected to workplace alcohol prevention. That is, if the organization wants to control drinking on-the-job, study results indicate the importance of regulating work environment in terms of informal social control. Finally, employees classified as problem drinkers in this study were more likely to work in physically hazardous work environments; however, the role of work environment in explaining this finding seems to be less important than the background factors that employees bring with them into the workplace. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Investigating user search tactic patterns and system support in using digital libraries

Joo, Soohyung The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

This study aims to investigate users' search tactic application and system support in using digital libraries. A user study was conducted with sixty digital library users. The study was designed to answer three research questions: 1) How do users engage in a search process by applying different types of search tactics while conducting different search tasks?; 2) How does the system support users to apply different types of search tactics?; 3) How do users' search tactic application and system support for different types of search tactics affect search outputs? Sixty student subjects were recruited from different disciplines in a state research university. Multiple methods were employed to collect data, including questionnaires, transaction logs and think-aloud protocols. Subjects were asked to conduct three different types of search tasks, namely, known-item search, specific information search and exploratory search, using Library of Congress Digital Libraries. To explore users' search tactic patterns (RQ1), quantitative analysis was conducted, including descriptive statistics, kernel regression, transition analysis, and clustering analysis. Types of system support were explored by analyzing system features for search tactic application. In addition, users' perceived system support, difficulty, and satisfaction with search tactic application were measured using post-search questionnaires (RQ2). Finally, the study examined the causal relationships between search process and search outputs (RQ 3) based on multiple regression and structural equation modeling. This study uncovers unique behavior of users' search tactic application and corresponding system support in the context of digital libraries. First, search tactic selections, changes, and transitions were explored in different task situations -- known-item search, specific information search, and exploratory search. Search tactic application patterns differed by task type. In known-item search tasks, users preferred to apply search query creation and following search result evaluation tactics, but less query reformulation or iterative tactic loops were observed. In specific information search tasks, iterative search result evaluation strategies were dominantly used. In exploratory tasks, browsing tactics were frequently selected as well as search result evaluation tactics. Second, this study identified different types of system support for search tactic application. System support, difficulty, and satisfaction were measure in terms of search tactic application focusing on search process. Users perceived relatively high system support for accessing and browsing tactics while less support for query reformulation and item evaluation tactics. Third, the effects of search tactic selections and system support on search outputs were examined based on multiple regression. In known-item searches, frequencies of query creation and accessing forwarding tactics would positively affect search efficiency. In specific information searches, time spent on applying search result evaluation tactics would have a positive impact on success rate. In exploratory searches, browsing tactics turned out to be positively associated with aspectual recall and satisfaction with search results. Based on the findings, the author discussed unique patterns of users' search tactic application as well as system design implications in digital library environments.

Unique contributions of career-related variables in predicting academic persistence and performance in University 101 college students

Metz, A. J The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The premature departure of college students is a problem for institutions of higher education and has profound long-term implications for the departing student. Consequently, colleges and universities have invested considerable resources in developing retention strategies, and the topic of postsecondary performance and persistence has received considerable empirical attention. To date, research has focused on both institutional and individual factors. Although a number of factors have been shown to predict college persistence and performance, a large amount of the variance remains unexplained. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the degree to which career-related variables account for variance in college students' academic performance and persistence beyond that accounted for by a measure of precollege ability and achievement. Participants included 906 first semester college freshman from a large Midwestern university. Participants completed measures of academic self-efficacy, interests, career decidedness, academic and career choice, vocational maturity, career barriers, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Precollege ability and achievement was assessed using participants' ACT composite score. Participants' performance was assessed using noncumulative grade point averages from the first three semesters of college. Persistence was measured by recording whether or not a student returned for the second and third semester of college. Hierarchical linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test models of performance and persistence respectively. Results from this study suggest that career-related variables are poor predictors of college student retention, but may contribute to the prediction of college student performance. This study was an attempt to build on previous empirical findings by bridging psychological, educational, and vocational constructs and theory. The results of this study warrant additional research on the utility of career-related variables in predicting academic persistence and performance.

Work and home boundaries: Sociospatial analysis of women's live-work environments

Mahmood, Atiya Niloufer The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2002 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Analyzing the social, spatial and temporal context of home-based work, this study examines how home-based women workers manage multiple roles and activities within the same physical location. Data collected on the coping and negotiating strategies employed by women as <italic>agents</italic>, in modification of, or perpetuation of, the structures of opportunities and constraints, provide insights into how women manage their multiple roles and how they negotiate traditional notions of <italic>work</italic> and <italic>home</italic>. The research questions are: (1) What are the emerging patterns of activity (work) systems of home-based women workers in Milwaukee? Do these vary across neighborhoods of different socioeconomic composition? (2) What are the socio-spatial and temporal characteristics of settings in which study participants work? Are there any variations across different neighborhoods, work and household types? (3) How do home-based women workers in different neighborhoods accommodate paid work within their residences?. Forty participants were selected from three study areas in the city of Milwaukee: an economically depressed area with a predominantly African-American population, a mixed income neighborhood with an ethnically heterogeneous population and a middle income neighborhood with a predominantly white population. Data collection includes qualitative interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and an observational inventory of physical characteristics of dwelling and work space. Data is analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative text analysis. The findings reveal that home-based workers—as active agents—interact with the existing structures (rules and resources) of their live-work environments to accommodate their primary work activity within their residences through boundary management practices that have spatial, temporal or behavioral manifestations. These practices exist along a continuum of <italic>integration</italic> and <italic> segmentation</italic> between <italic>work</italic> and <italic>home</italic>. Participants use segmentation strategies of <italic>defending</italic> and <italic> intrusion reduction</italic> to place boundaries between <italic>work</italic> and <italic>home</italic> and integration strategies of <italic>switching </italic> to remove boundaries between these two realms. Presence of client in the residence, expectations or requirements of clients, household composition and household members' needs and practices, nature and motive of home-based work and spatial <italic>affordances</italic> of work settings influence how and when these boundaries between <italic>work</italic> and <italic>home</italic> are placed or removed.

Immigrant culture and housing provision, examining the nexus: A case study of the ACTS Landmark Housing Program and its Hmong participants (Wisconsin)

Dearborn, Lynne M The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2004 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The 2000 U.S. Census indicates legal immigrants have reached a record population of 31.1 million. Data suggest growth will continue, significantly impacting housing markets. To better understand the residential choices of immigrants in U.S. housing markets, this dissertation tests the premise that residential choice results from the interaction of residential goals, and constraints and facilitators, and investigates the assertion that residential goals grow out of deeply held cultural ideals, residential experiences and short-term demands. This qualitative case study of the ACTS Landmark Housing Program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and immigrants Hmong homeowners within the program, investigates three research questions: (1) What are the short-term residential goals and long-term residential ideals of Hmong Landmark participants; are those goals and ideals linked to cultural characteristics and experiences? (2) What specifically has facilitated homeownership for Hmong households who have become owners through the Landmark Housing Program? (3) What are the outcomes of Hmong residential choice taking place within the Landmark Housing Program; what are the behavioral and attitudinal consequences of those outcomes?. This study used participant observation, depth interviews, and archival data within the program and semi-structured interviews within 42 immigrant homeowner households; additionally, physical conditions, activities and behaviors were observed and documented. Qualitative data analysis used "explanation-building"-type pattern matching; resulting patterns address three areas of residential choice: (1) inputs, (2) choice and (3) outcomes. This study reveals six Hmong cultural characteristics that influence residential choice inputs: (1) large household size, (2) extended-family household structure, (3) strong kinship ties, (4) Hmong traditional religion, (5) Hmong desire to maintain ethnic identity and (6) swidden agriculturalists. The study identifies five conditions Hmong study participants have experienced that influence Hmong participants' residential choice inputs: (1)economic marginality, (2) feeling unsafe because of crime, (3) discrimination, and (4&5) lack of control over use and physical quality of residential environments. Hmong informal networks and Landmark program staff are primary direct facilitators of Hmong homeownership within this program. Environmental quality profiles link each study participant's goals with outcome assessments. Study findings reveal: (1) potential to identify and exploit strengths within immigrant cultures to improve housing provision and quality, (2) ways to increase facilitation of immigrant homeownership, and (3) increased insights concerning cultural change within residential contexts.

When is it stalking? Elements deemed necessary by young adults

Vollmer, Kristina J The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Recent research on stalking has started to examine the difficulty in defining stalking. Early researchers had difficulty deciding what to call the behavior, and current researchers commonly develop their own operational definition of stalking. Even though every state and many countries have laws to encompass stalking, they vary in terms of the requirements for fulfilling the law. All states require multiple behaviors by the perpetrator to occur over time that shows a continuity of purpose but vary between intent of the perpetrator to cause fear in the target, the target actually experiencing fear, or a reasonable person in the place of the target would feel fear. The purpose of this research was to determine what young adults feel are necessary elements to warrant a label of stalking. Four vignettes were randomly distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee during the spring semester of 2005. The vignettes varied on intent of the perpetrator (explicit intent to cause fear vs. explicit non-intent to cause fear) and on reaction of the target (explicit fear vs. explicit non-fear). Subjects will be asked to read a vignette (one of the four) and then answer questions about the vignette as well as demographic questions, questions regarding personal history of being in similar situations, and they will also be asked to openly define stalking. It was found that overt intent by the perpetrator to cause fear was significantly labeled as stalking more than no intent, and victim fear response did not affect a label of stalking. Subjects also differed from laws on other elements such as the minimum number of behaviors necessary to warrant stalking, and whether the victim has to know he/she is being stalked. Further, 22.2% of subjects reported being stalked, but when allowed to self-define stalking it was found that their definitions of stalking mostly describe harassment rather than stalking.

Dependence of conductivities and anisotropies on geologic properties within the near-surface aquifier in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Carlson, Douglas Alan The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The Silurian-Devonian dolomite portion of the aquifer system in southeastern Wisconsin consists of a series of alternating high (0.5 to 10 m/day) and low (less than 0.1 m/day) hydraulic conductivity (K) dolomites. The construction of 10 m tunnels through this sequence of dolomite units has created a hydraulic stress on the regional system that has allowed it to be studied in ways previously impossible. Several major conclusions can be drawn from this study of the near-surface aquifer (combination of Silurian Devonian dolomite and overlying glacial tills). The vertical anisotropy of hydraulic conductivity (K_h/K_v) for the dolomite units is far larger than values from previous studies of this aquifer. The conceptual model that best explains hydraulic observations in low K units (aquitards) is a dual-porosity medium, while for high K units (aquifers) it is a porous medium. There is also a strong correlation between the hydraulic conductivity of the stratigraphic units and the density of discontinuities within these individual units. This may indicate that the aquifers are either behaving as equivalent porous media, or porous media and the discontinuity systems yield results that are indistinguishable. Analysis of flux into the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District deep tunnels and potentiometric levels near these tunnels reveals that K_h/K_v for the dolomite units ranges from 25 to 2000, with K_h/K_v values of aquifers approximately 10 times larger than K_h/K_v values of aquitards. The calibration of three finite-difference groundwater models and the verification of two of these models confirms the large values of K_h/K_v calculated by analytical techniques. In addition, sensitivity analysis indicates that this study's large values are necessary for the simulation of this aquifer to yield both reasonable fluxes into the deep tunnels and surface water bodies as well as reasonable potentiometric values throughout the aquifer. Azimuthal electrical resistivity surveys, multiple-well-aquifer tests, dye tracer tests, and single-well aquifer tests, among other sources, reveal the best conceptual model for portions of the dolomite. The K of the units studied shows a strong correlation to the total density of discontinuities within the rock units. For K_h the best correlation is with the density of horizontal breaks. For K_v, it is with density of vertical joints. Other commonly used measures of fractured rock properties (including bulk porosity, abundance of vugs) were only weakly correlated to observed K. As a final note, the azimuthal resistivity surveys appear to indicate that the flow of water through clay-rich tills overlying the dolomite may also be influenced by discontinuities.

Using a relative price preference scale to analyze choice : a prototype modeling approach (reference price, choice models)

Lowengart, Oded University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 1996 국내박사

The pursuit of restorative experiences in urban settings : Use of environmental coping resources, role of constraints and consequent restorative outcomes in elementary school teachers' coping strategies

Betrabet, Gowri University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 2000 국내박사