Browsing by Author "McNamara, James F."
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Item Adult literacy : effects of a developmental reading program for black college students attending a traditional black college(1990) White, Florine Jones; Alexander, Patricia A.; McNamara, James F.; Seaman, Don F.; Shutes, Robert E.It was the purpose of this study to examine the effects of a developmental reading program for black college students attending a traditional black college. Specifically, this study investigated whether the students who received training would score higher on The Nelson-Dennv Reading Test comprehension subtest than the students who did not receive such training. Further, the study examined whether the effects of the training were influenced by age and gender. Students' attitudes toward reading were examined before and after training to determine whether or not there was a change in the attitudes as a consequence of that training. The developmental reading program contained ten separate lessons. These lessons were developed to be delivered in 50-minute sessions for a minimum of 20 hours of training. The training sessions were conducted during the periods scheduled for the regular developmental reading classes in 50 minute sessions for a period of 27 days. Student performance on The Nelson Penny Reading Test comprehension subtest was assessed following the training. Posttest scores on The Nelson-Dennv Reading Test comprehension subtest were submitted to a t test to determine if there were significant differences between group means on the variables of training age and gender. Results of the students' t statistic indicated that there was a significant main effect for the treatment with the trained students scoring higher on the reading comprehension subtest than the untrained students. The performance scores of the trained groups were not influenced by age or gender. There was an appreciable change in attitudes toward reading after training. Conclusions and implications of these findings for adult literacy programs and for teaching reading to this specific category of young adults are discussed, and questions for future research are posed.Item American-sponsored overseas schools : a dissertation integration(1983) Howard, Patsy Cliffene; McNamara, James F.; Campbell, Jack K.; Erlandson, David A.; Fox, milden J., Jr.; Vescaloni, FredThis inquiry integrates the dissertation literature on American-sponsored overseas schools from 1861 to 1982. Integration poses two design problems: (a) how to turn the many pieces of dissertation literature into an integrated representation of the research on American-sponsored overseas schools, and (b) given these integrated findings, how to create an agenda for future research that extends the knowledge base on American-sponsored overseas schools. The solution takes the form of a general dissertation integration model which consists of five discrete phases: Phase One (selection of integration topic and dissertation sample), Phase Two (specification of theoretical framework), Phase Three (identification and application of data coding structures), Phase Four (elaboration of empirical data), and Phase Five (integration of findings and development of research agenda). Findings of the study are organized around the four integration dimensions of Phase Two. These are: (1) Research Issues--which emphasizes the nine research issues specified for the integration topic on ASOS. Ranked from most to least frequently addressed, issues are school personnel, school setting, student body, school programs, interinstitutional relationships, school administration, institutional foundations, school governance, and school clientele. (2) Research Strategy--which addresses the eight research strategies specified for the integration model. Survey research (76%) is the predominant strategy employed. Other strategies used are case study (19%), historical study (8%), and experimental research (6%). (3) Quality--which rates dissertations as marginal, adequate, good or excellent. For the 89 dissertations on ASOS, the quality is judged to be adequate. (4) Demographic Characteristics--which provides information about the dissertation author, the institution, and the dissertation. The findings indicate that the average dissertation analyzed in this inquiry is written by a male with previous overseas experience, who completed a Ph.D. in educational administration at a public university in the early 1970s. The average dissertation is approximately 200 pages in length, uses other than APA style, relies on the questionnaire as its data source, and is analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. In Phase Five, two propositional inventories are constructed, one containing 61 statements and 25 trends for the substantive findings on the nine research issues and the second yielding 52 statements and 12 trends for the research strategy and quality of research dimensions. Finally, a research agenda is specified to guide future inquiries.Item Aspects of vocational development in older males : an exploratory study(1981) Gill, David Henry; Christiansen, James E.; McNamara, James F.The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance and descriptive applicability of vocational development theories for the later lifestages of maintenance and decline in older males. The following objectives guided the research: 1. To determine whether or not the maintenance period is characterized by limited occupational change. 2. To determine whether or not the decline stage is characterized by withdrawal from paid work, followed by continued lack of participation in work. 3. To develop a model that would predict the predisposition to withdraw from working life among older males. Pertinent data were obtained or derived for 5020 older males from the Department of Labor's National Longitudinal Surveys data base. Data for the first two objectives were analyzed using descriptive statistics and cohort analysis. Objective three was accomplished through the use of multiple regression analysis and an extension of MRA, commonality analysis. Major Findings: 1. Occupational stability increases with age, the incidence of occupational changing dropping rapidly in the early sixties. 2. Even after the age of sixty, over 10% of the respondents reported a change in occupation over a two-year time period. 3. About 58% of the respondents changed occupations at least once during the ten-year time frame of the study. Over 10% of the respondents aged 64-68 reported having changed jobs at least three changes of occupational fields. 4. The initial decision to retire attained a peak rate of incidence of 31% at age 66 but displayed an earlier sharp rise around the age of 62 (from 9% at age 61 to 20% at age 63). 5. About one-fourth of the respondents reported themselves as retired at some time during the period of study (men aged 45-68 during the period of 1966-1975). About half of the men who retired later reported a return to work. 6. Whereas incidence of retirement increases with age, so also does post-retirement work involvement, particularly after age sixty. Thirty-six percent of the men aged 62-66 who reported their first retirement in 1973 later reported being employed...Item Assessment of the conclusion validity for empirical research studies published in the journal of speech, language, and hearing research(2009-05-15) Byrns, Glenda Elkins; McNamara, James F.; Ochoa, Salvador Hector; Parrish, Linda H.; Skrla, LindaResearch-based decision making has been advanced as a way for professionals to make a determination about the effectiveness of a potential treatment. However, informed consumers of research need to be able to determine what constitutes evidence-based practices and what criteria can be used to determine if evidence-based practices have been met. This study was a synthesis of research that involved a critical review of the empirical research studies reported in Volume 47 of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR) published in 2004. This methodological research synthesis evaluated (a) the research designs used in the JSLHR studies, (b) information and rationale used to inform population validity assessment decisions, and (c) the extent to which the sampling designs, population validity rating, data analysis procedures, and the specification of generalizations and conclusions provide sufficient evidence to determine an overall rating of conclusion validity. Results indicated that less than one-fifth of the 105 research synthesis population of studies used experimental research designs. Additionally, the vast majority of the research synthesis population of studies (83.8%) were observational research designs. Only five studies out of the research synthesis population of studies (4.8%) were determined to have high population validity. In contrast, 84.8 percent of the research synthesis population of studies were found to have low population validity. That is, the studies did not contain adequate information or description of the essential sampling concerns. The vast majority or 75.3 percent of the research synthesis population of studies were rated as having low conclusion validity. Approximately one-fifth of the 105 research synthesis study population (22 studies or 20.9%) were found to have moderate conclusion validity while less than five percent of the total studies (4 of 105 studies or 3.8%) were found to have high conclusion validity. A meaningful relationship between population validity ratings and conclusion validity ratings was established. Since 81 of 105 studies have identical ratings for both population and conclusion validity, the accuracy of the prediction model developed for this study is 77.1 percent.Item The Black and Hispanic undergraduate experience at a major state institution in the Southwest : a five-year assessment(1989) McJamerson, Evangeline Delores McConnell; Chisolm, Grace B.; Corrigan, Dean C.; Gaston, Jerry C.; McNamara, James F.Exploratory in nature, this two-stage institutional case study was conducted in response to the declining participation of Blacks and Hispanics in higher education, particularly at predominantly White colleges and universities (PWCUs). The retention/attrition literature, suggest Black and Hispanic problematic student-institution interactions, questionable academic and social integration, and a uniquely tenuous "fit" at PWCUs. The researcher's intent was to test the validity of the interaction theoretical framework by documenting the experience of Black and Hispanic undergraduates for a five-year period at one large, predominantly White institution in the Southwest. In Stage I, (1) four successive (1982-85) cohorts (2,278) of Black, Hispanic, and White first-time full time undergraduates were identified in order to ascertain in enrollment, persistence and degree attainment rates and trends and (2) cohorts were divided by persistence status, race/ethnicity and gender to permit development of persisting and nonpersisting student profiles using selected demographic, academic and involvement characteristics. In Stage II, a sample of persisting and nonpersisting Black and Hispanic students were surveyed by telephone using a researcher constructed Environmental Evaluation. The study documented clear racial/ethnic differences in enrollment, persistence and degree attainment..Item A case study of the implementation of TQM at the Memorial Student Center at Texas A & M University : the impact on organizational structure(1994) Carr, Rebecca Lynn; Carpenter, Stan; Cole, Bryan R.; Koldus, John J.; Lincoln, Yvonna S.; McNamara, James F.This study followed the implementation process of Total Quality Management (TQM) with IN the Student Programming Organization in the Memorial Student Center (MSC) at Texas A&M University. The implementation process or pilot study was conducted in the 1992-93 academic year. While the pilot study involved three quality teams, this study followed the activities of one team. TQM Team #1, the one this study followed, consisted of four students and four staff members and concentrated on structural barriers in the organization. The team used TQM tools, including a fishbone diagram and affinity charts, to investigate possible structural barriers. They focused their investigation on roles and collaboration. The team conducted interviews and collected information from the officers of the organization about their ideas about their role and collaboration. Recommendations were made to the MSC regarding the information collected, reviewed, and analyzed by the team. This study was conducted using naturalistic inquiry methodology. The study followed a dynamic process for nine months. Naturalistic methodology afforded the opportunity to study the interaction of people as they developed and changed as well as the changes in the organization. The primary method was participant observation of training and team meetings. The researcher served as the team facilitator assisting the group in TQM exercises. This level of involvement provided a unique opportunity to collect information from the group and question issues brought up in the discussion. Interviews were also conducted with team members and other stakeholders. Conclusions of the researcher included: 1) Total Quality Management teamwork made a positive improvement in the MSC 2) Involvement and the level of involvement aids in student learning and development 3) Teamwork can have a dramatic impact on any organization even if it is hierarchical, formal, and traditional in nature. 4) The role of team facilitator afforded me different viewpoints of the implementation process than a simple observer.Item Cases of interpersonal loyalty between chief student affairs officers and their superordinate and subordinates(1990) Dibrito, Florence Guido; Carpenter, D. Stanley; Barr, Margaret J.; Corrigan, Dean C.; Koldus, John J.; Lincoln, Yvonna S.; McNamara, James F.Little is known about interpersonal loyalty in student affairs higher education settings, yet practitioners agree that its existence is important in the relationship between superordinate and subordinate. The purpose of this study was to discover the nature of loyalty between chief student affairs officers and their subordinates and superordinates. Using the naturalist paradigm and its assumptions as a framework, four institutions of higher education west of the Mississippi River were selected as the context for this research. A type of purposive sampling was used to identify persons who would be most likely to uncover loyalty's salient points. Fifty-four participants were interviewed, including the chief executive officer, the chief student affairs officer, and the directors and department heads in each student affairs sub-specialty area at each case site. The inquirer was the instrument used in this inquiry. No interview guide was developed, but the inquirer asked unassuming, probing questions to reveal participants' tacit and propositional knowledge about loyalty and its manifestations. Other data sources included observation of participants and collection of institutional documents. Appropriate methods were implemented to insure trustworthiness of the inquiry. Several themes central to loyalty and derived from a student affairs context emerged: the nature of loyalty in interpersonal relationships between superordinate and subordinate, personal and organizational dynamics which affect superordinate and subordinate relationships, and convergence of personal and organizational dynamics. Patterns related to the nature of loyalty are focus on an object, process of exchange, consequence of shared experience, and situational quality. Other patterns expressed as dichotomies were its propensity to be: emotional or rational, given automatically or earned, given willingly or unwillingly, reciprocal or demanded, and strength of sentiment. Professional competence, position held in organization, and personal characteristics and virtues of players also were found to be related to the nature of loyalty. Patterns related to personal dynamics included: self-concept, personality, frequency of subordinate/superordinate interaction, and mutual support. Patterns related to organizational dynamics included: organizational structure, shared belief in institutional mission and goals, unwritten professional expectation, subordinate voice in organizational decision making, and power of institutional leaders. Interpersonal loyalty appears to emerge at the convergence of personal and organizational dynamics. Implications of the study are discussed for researchers and practitioners.Item A conceptual model of the roles of price, quality, and intermediary constructs in determining behavioral intention to visit a festival(Texas A&M University, 2006-08-16) Lee, So Yon; Crompton, John L.; McNamara, James F.; O'Leary, Joseph T.; Petrick, James F.A clear understanding of the relationship among three performance indicators (perceived service quality, perceived service value, and satisfaction) would inform tourism businesses and organizations which of these evaluation measures were the most useful indicators of visitorsÂ’ behavioral intentions. Perceived service quality is a userÂ’s judgment about a serviceÂ’s overall excellence or superiority (Berry, Parasuraman and Zeithaml 1988). Perceived service value has been recognized in the past decade as one of the most salient determinants of purchase intention and repeat visitation (Bolton and Drew 1991; Chang and Wildt 1994; Jayanti and Ghosh 1996). Previous studies (Grewal, Monroe and Krishnan 1998; Jayanti and Ghosh 1996; Oh 1999; Sweeney, Soutar and Johnson 1997; Zeithaml 1988) suggested that perceived service value which is defined as a trade-off between visitorsÂ’ perceptions of the “give” and “get” components of a service (Zeithaml 1988) mediates the influence of perceived price and perceived service quality. Satisfaction is a visitorÂ’s affective and evaluative response to the overall product or service experience (Oliver 1997). What visitors receive from their investment (money, time and other resources) on a tourism trip are psychological benefits. Thus, it is an experience that visitors receive from interacting with the tourism product, and satisfaction is an evaluation of the level to which these psychological benefits are received (Crompton and Love 1995). This study is an examination of the relationships between visitorsÂ’ perceived service quality, perceived service value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Respondents were visitors who attended the Cajun Catfish Festival in Conroe, Texas and were systematically selected. Findings revealed that: a) a structural model operationalizing perceived service quality as a set of attributes fit the data better than an alternative model that measured quality by using a visitorÂ’s judgment about a serviceÂ’s overall excellence or superiority; b) among the constructs analyzed perceived service value appeared to be the best predictor of behavioral intentions; and c) of the four dimensions of service quality of a festival, generic features and comfort amenities had the most influence on determining perceived service quality.Item Contractual park maintenance in Texas Park Departments(1987) Denney, Charles Hugh; Hodges, Louis; Colunga, Daniel; Kaiser, Ronald A.; McNamara, James F.The purpose of this study was to determine the extent and characteristics of contracting for park maintenance services in the State of Texas. The source of data was information collected by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station from park departments in Texas. The investigation centered on the amount and type of maintenance contracted, respondents perceptions of the benefits of contracting, and correlations between the size of the community, park maintenance budgets, and selected variables. An analysis of past and present use of contracts was also conducted. The study attempted to identify what problems had been encountered, cost comparisons of maintenance alternatives, and whether legal (liability) problems were reduced or increased. Descriptive and correlative measures (F and t tests) provided the framework for the analysis of the survey data. The results showed 57% of the departments in Texas used some type of formal contract maintenance, but only 25% of the responding agencies had conducted a cost comparison study. Of the departments that had made cost comparisons, 54% indicated there was a 1/2 to 2/3 savings in the use of contracts. The data suggested that departments in smaller communities were more dependent on contract maintenance than larger departments, since the percentage of the budget used for contract maintenance tended to decrease as the population increased. However the population of the communities surveyed did not show any significant relationship to the amount of park maintenance contracting performed. The expenditures per capita for contract services were greater in cities with smaller population although the actual dollar amount spent for contract maintenance was greater in the larger park departments. No legal problems relating to contract maintenance, and no contractor default had been encountered. Respondents with extensive contract maintenance experience tended to have a more positive perception of the benefits of contracting, despite having encountered more minor problems, than respondents with less contracting experience.Item Dissertation research on women in educational administration : a synthesis of findings and paradigm for future research(1979) Shakeshaft, Charol Smith; McNamara, James F.Within the field of educational administration, the study of women administrators has increased remarkably. However, although the woman administrator has become one of the most researched topics in the discipline during the 1970s, no definitive work which discusses the results of this research has been undertaken. The purpose of this dissertation is to fill this gap by analyzing dissertation literature from 1973-1978 on women in educational administration for the purpose of identifying issues which have been treated, determining the quality of the research, integrating the findings of this research, and formulating a paradigm for future research. This study uses four major strategies for integrating the findings: listing factors, taking a vote, averaging the statistics, and a meta-analytic approach. Additionally, a content analysis is performed on both the dissertation literature and the general managerial and social science literature on women in administration to identify the issues and trends in the research. The major units of analysis for this inquiry are doctoral dissertations on women in educational administration completed and abstracted from January 1973 through January 1979. The final sample consists of 114 studies. The average dissertation analyzed in this study is written by a female working with a male major advisor. She is a feminist who has earned her Ph. D. in a department of educational administration. She is likely to have been the only person at her university to write a dissertation on women in educational administration from 1973 to 1978, and she also is likely to be attending a university that is not a UCEA institution, but that does have a women's studies program. The average dissertation is likely to investigate the profile of the woman administrator, be approximately 175 pages in length, not be organized according to APA style, not test hypotheses, and to have been completed in 1976. The representative dissertation queried administrators at the K-12 level using the survey method with a paper and pencil questionnaire as the primary means for data collection. The results are analyzed according to the descriptive methods of frequency, percentages, or measures of central tendency, and hence, have excluded all forms of inferential statistics as well as bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques currently employed in survey analysis...Item Doctoral Program Issues: Commentary on Companion Dissertations(2010-10-22) McNamara, James F.; Lara-Alecio, Rafael; Hoyle, John; Irby, Beverly J.Item Ecological fallacies encountered in the use of published aggregate level basic skills achievement reports(1979) Gardner, David Walton; McNamara, James F.The proliferation of aggregate basic skills achievement reporting without consideration of the problems associated with aggregate data poses potential problems for urban school districts participating in this practice. This inquiry examines one such administrative reporting system, the Houston Independent School District's Elementary School Profiles, within the context of the policy environment for which it is designed. As no previous research has attempted to link the literature dealing with the problems associated with ecological inference with the practice of aggregate basic skills reporting, this inquiry has taken the form of exploratory research. With this intent, six sequential tasks provide the structure of this inquiry. ...Item The effect of teacher certification on student achievement(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Sparks, Karin; McNamara, James F.; O'Dell, Lisa; Ash, Michael; Carpenter, StanThe purpose of this study was to review the empirical research evidence on the effect of teacher certification on student achievement. An exploratory meta-analysis was conducted on studies that examined the effect of fully certified and less-than-fully certified teachers on student achievement. The meta-analysis focused on the areas of mathematics, science and reading and explored trends across areas of achievement, school level and research design. The study was directed towards (a) a synthesis of findings, and (b) recommendations for future research and policy decisions.The meta-analysis population consisted of five individual studies that generated twenty-seven effect size estimates. Three studies utilized either an individual level or class level of analysis and yielded twelve mean difference effect size estimates. Two studies utilized either a school or state level of analysis and yielded fifteen correlational effect size estimates. The majority of findings in mathematics favor the positive effect of fully certified teachers. In science, the findings pointed towards equivalent levels of student achievement for fully certified and less-than fully certified teachers. All the findings associated with reading favored the positive effect of fully certified teachers. It appears that certification may be more crucial to student achievement in reading and mathematics than in science. Across school levels, the overall trend suggests that full certification may be more crucial to student achievement in elementary school than middle or high school. Across levels of analysis and research design, studies that utilize an aggregate level of analysis yield a greater number of positive study outcomes than designs conducted at the individual or class level. A key finding is that given the specifications of the meta-analysis, direct evidence of the relationship between certification and student achievement is limited to five peer-reviewed, published studies. Additional findings illuminated several issues that are vital to improving the quantity and quality of research on teacher certification. Eight specific recommendations were directed towards academic researchers who plan to study the topic. Four recommendations are directed towards policy-makers at the state and federal level who are involved in setting standards and planning legislation for educator preparation.Item The effects of cooperative integrated reading and composition, fidelity of implementation, and teacher concerns on student achievement(1991) Skeans, Sharon Elizabeth Sicinski; Wiseman, Donna L.; Dockweiler, Clarence J.; McNamara, James F.; Smith, Robert G.This study was primarily concerned with whether Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC), which uses cooperative learning with an integrated language arts program, had a greater impact on student achievement than an integrated language arts program which uses non-cooperative learning procedures. Of further interest was the effect on student achievement of teachers' fidelity of implementation of CIRC and their concerns while implementing this new methodology. This quasi-experimental study involved 310 students of 24 teachers at grade three and 320 students of 18 teachers at grade five. Student achievement was measured by the subtests of vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language of the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Sixth Edition, Form L. Fidelity of implementation for the CIRC and comparison groups was measured by questionnaires developed from Innovation Configuration Checklists for each treatment. Teacher concerns were measured by the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. The latter instruments are components of Gene Hall et al.'s Concerns-Based Adoption Model. An analysis of covariance using prior achievement as the covariate was conducted. The differences in achievement between the two groups within each grade level were compared, and effect sizes were used to interpret significant differences. Statistically significant results were found in the following areas: (1) the implementation of CIRC resulted in greater achievement in vocabulary at grade three; (2) the implementation of the district's integrated language arts program resulted in greater student achievement in reading comprehension and language at grade five; (3) CIRC teachers with high degrees of implementation had a greater impact on student achievement in language at grade three; and (4) CIRC teachers with both high degrees of implementation and high Stages of Concern had a greater impact on student achievement in language at grade three...Item The effects of facilitative teacher response and revision strategies on adolescent writing achievement(1994) Hughey, Jane Bonner; McNamara, James F.; Ash, Michael J.; Hill, Rodney C.; Nash, William R.Composing is often a solitary activity with the outcome in some future time and place. Because it is an internal and often solitary process, we still have much to learn about the development of written language. According to Piaget and others, most adolescents have reached the point of becoming independent agents in their cognitive development; however, national reports and other research findings show poor results in adolescents* abilities to express themselves effectively in writing. Findings suggest that it is often during this critical period that the least developmental work in writing occurs and that writing evaluation and feedback to students are frequently counterproductive. This study explores the effects of strategies that current theory in developmental psychology, composing, and creativity propose to be effective with students of this age group. These strategies include active involvement in learning, facilitative and directive feedback, and a gradual shift of responsibility for learning and performance to learners themselves. In this study, such strategies were implemented in regular classroom settings by three language arts teachers with 160 sixth grade also explores the likelihood that when students gain in one of these outcome variables they also gain in the others and, further, that students' first language relates in some way to the reported outcomes. For this study, strategies were implemented through a writing program in regular classroom settings by three language arts teachers with 160 sixth grade students. The program was implemented over a seven-month period. Sixty-five percent of the study population was characterized as low SES, and approximately 60% was non-Englishspeaking. The outcomes of the three key variables were measured using a series of five writing events as well as tests of writing apprehension and verbal creativity. The data were analyzed by examining students' gains on these measures. Teachers and classes were compared for possible replication of the outcomes of the writing program. Findings suggest that, when the writing program strategies were implemented, students showed gains in the variables of interest - writing achievement, attitude toward writing, and verbal creativity - and that, as a group, the non-English-speaking students made greater gains on these three criteria than did their English-speaking classmates.Item The effects of selected variables on the cognitive achievement levels of students enrolled in Texas adult basic education programs(1979) Kellar, Mark; Fellenz, Robert A.; McNamara, James F.A multivariate case analysis was developed to examine the relationships between specified variables and student cognitive achievement in three Texas adult education programs. Data were collected from an existing statewide reporting system, thereby creating a cost effective mode of analysis. Further, the utilization of a computer stored dataset represented a practical extension of a system for decision-making at both the state and local levels. Variables were organized into five predictor domains as supported by the professional literature in adult education. These included the entering achievement level for each student, a set of five background characteristics for each student, an attendance index for each student, a set of four program variables on each student's class, and a set of five characteristics on each student's teacher. The effects of each predictor domain on student achievement were determined by decomposing variance into partitions using the technique of commonality analysis. Results of the study indicated that only two single variables, entry level achievement and attendance, were directly and substantially associated with learning outcomes in every case. The confounded effects of program variables, background factors, and teacher characteristics were shown to have associations with learning outcomes; however, no other individual predictor variables produced clearly distinguishable trends across all cases studied. In-depth confirmatory analysis is recommended to investigate the areas left unresolved by this study. Of particular interest are the issues of program and teacher effects on the learning process. With additional refinement and development, this particular research technique offers great promise for learning analysis in the field of adult education.Item The effects of sunshine legislation on the collective bargaining process in public education as perceived by administrators, teachers, and labor relations specialists in seven states(1983) Baker, Milton Marcu; Fox, Milden J.; Hawkins, Harold L.; Hoyle, John R.; McNamara, James F.; Stone, B. DouglasThe specific intent of this inquiry was to ascertain the effects of sunshine legislation on the collective bargaining process in public education. The recency of sunshine legislation and the scarcity of current, relative data on the effects of sunshine legislation was the controlling factor in the undertaking of this research. Further, this inquiry reflects the intent of exploratory research as delineated by Kerlinger. The empirical aspects of this inquiry were guided by eight research questions. The data necessary to answer these research questions were gathered through a postal questionnaire. The parties sampled were public school teachers and administrators in the seven states that currently have some form of sunshine legislation. A group of labor relations specialists was also sampled as a means to extend the information base. The eight research questions were: (1) has sunshine legislation resulted in changes in the public's participation in the collective bargaining process; (2) has sunshine legislation resulted in changes in the news media's participation in the collective bargaining process; (3) has sunshine legislation resulted in changes in the negotiations process; (4) has sunshine legislation resulted in changes in the contracts negotiated; (5) what are the contemporary positions of the parties involved concerning the continuation or expansion of sunshine legislation in the collective bargaining process in education; (6) what are the advantages to employees of sunshine bargaining; (7) what are the advantages to employers of sunshine bargaining; and (8) what are the advantages to the public of sunshine bargaining.The following conclusions were drawn: (1) After initial bargaining sessions, the public and media tend to lose interest in the protracted sessions that follow. (2) Sunshine legislation has not had a major impact on the negotiations process or the various items contained in a teacher's contract. (3) Public sector bargaining is generally viewed as a political process. Therefore, sunshine legislation by opening the collective bargaining process to more public and media participation was perceived by the respondents as a further politization of this process. (4) Any effects sunshine legislation had on the current practice of collective bargaining in public education have not been of a major magnitude.Item An exploration of the relationship between use of parks and access, park appeal, and communication effectiveness(2009-05-15) Walker, Jamie Rae; Crompton, John L.; McNamara, James F.; Shafer, C. Scott; Wunneburger, Douglas F.Understanding what variables influence park use would assist park providers and policy makers in acquiring, designing, managing, and funding initiatives which encourage or support park use. Previous studies indicate that access to parks (measured by both objective and perceived distances), park appeal in terms of being well-maintained, and effective communication between constituents and park suppliers, relate positively to park use. This study explores the relationships between access, appeal, and communication and park use. Access is operationalized as four objective distances from household to nearest park using both Euclidian and Network measures, and by subjective self-reported measures of ability to access parks on foot or by bicycle. Appeal is concerned with the influence of parks’ perceived level of maintenance and availability of amenities on the probability of park use. Effective communication is operationalized by three variables: perceptions of being well-informed, being included in the planning process, and being able to give feedback to park leaders. These variables and selected demographic data were extracted from an existing data set: the City of College Station Needs Assessment. Findings indicated that a) respondents with access to parks are more likely to use parks, b) level of maintenance and available amenities influenced use, and c) respondents who are well-informed are more likely to use parks.Item An exploratory analysis of multi-destination pleasure travel behavior(1992) Lue, Chi-Chuan; Crompton, John L.; McNamara, James F.; Stewart, William P.; Van Doren, Carlton S.Destination demand models that have appeared in the outdoor recreation and tourism literature have in large part been predicated on the assumption that when travelers leave home, they go to a single destination. This assumption is frequently fallacious since many trips are multi-destinational. This experimental study focussed on multi-destinational travel which was conceptualized as an individually constrained choice process. Individuals were assumed to view choice alternatives and destinations as bundles of attributes. Destination choice was characterized as a process in which decision-makers first perceived a set of destinations based upon a few attributes and then chose more than one destination from this set by cognitively integrating those attributes that would maximize their preference or utility, subject to a set of personal, temporal and spatial constraints. An initial sample of 516 subjects was screened on three criteria to yield a sample of 87 subjects who were qualified to participate in the experiment. Each subject was given a unique set of six treatment scenarios which were comprised of three pairs and asked to rate the likelihood of their being visited. One pair consisted of two destinations and two pairs contained three destinations. Each destination was characterized by two attributes, which each had two levels. Each of the three pairs of scenarios were identical with the exception of two different levels of an expenditure/time constraint attached to them. These treatments permitted the development of models of the choice process which could predict part-worths for alternative attribute and constraint levels. Differences in the levels of attributes used to characterize destinations visited on multi-destination trips had significant effects on scenario preferences, but some of the effects shifted in the models. Subjects with a longer travel distance to the primary destination were more likely to explore a broader geographic area in their multi-destination trips. Duration of the trip, knowledge level of the destination area, and number of perceived needs were positively associated with the three destination scenarios, which was consistent with theoretical expectations. Different complementary relationships were observed between the two secondary destinations on two perceived destination attributes. However, variety seeking behavior of multi-destination pleasure travel was not confirmed.Item An exploratory analysis of the personal community hypothesis as a determinant of camping participation(1988) Hartmann, Lawrence A.; Fesenmaier, Daniel R.; Cordell, H. Ken; Gramann, James H.; Leigh, James H.; McNamara, James F.; Reid, Leslie M.Modeling outdoor recreation participation has been conducted since the early 1960s, with limited explanatory power of the models used. A review of the literature indicates that one promising area of research is the "Personal Community Hypothesis" as applied to recreation behavior. This hypothesis indicates that one's social surroundings influence his recreation participation decisions. Proposed components of this hypothesis are the elemental, socialization and co-participant dimensions of one's social influences. This dissertation explored potential aspects of the PCH which may influence participation in camping, especially the influence of one's co-participant group, using data from the Forest Service component of the Public Area Recreation Visitor Survey. Both choice of camping style and duration of the camping experience were examined. Results identify several aspects of one's personal community which influence camping behavior, including age and education of the individual and co-participant group members. However, the predictive power of the models developed was limited.