Browsing by Author "Dennis Daley, Committee Member"

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Differences in Work Ethic Among Job Seekers Grouped by Employment Status, Age and Gender
(2004-05-20) Fouts, Susan Fowler; Carol Kasworm, Committee Co-Chair; Leila Gonzalez-Sullivan, Committee Co-Chair; Saundra Williams, Committee Member; Dennis Daley, Committee Member
Work ethic has historically been linked to financial success of individuals and is an multi-dimensional attribute desired by employers. This study examined the level of adherence to work ethic among jobseekers grouped by employment status, age, and gender. This ex-post facto descriptive study used a univariate analysis of variance (p< .05) to evaluate responses to the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory. The study was conducted at the Haywood County JobLink Center in rural Western North Carolina. Jobseekers were grouped by employment status, age, and gender separately and by combinations of these independent variables. There were no significant differences in work ethic scores among jobseekers when grouped by age and gender separately or a combination of age and gender. There were differences in work ethic scores of jobseekers when grouped by employment status. There were also differences in work ethic scores of jobseekers when grouped by employment status and gender. Additionally, there were significant differences in work ethic scores among jobseekers when grouped by employment status and age. The most significant finding of the study was a higher level of work ethic among some unemployed jobseekers when compared with employed jobseekers. This study was one of the first to examine the work ethic among jobseeker groups.
Formulating a Prediction Model of Retention Rate in the University of North Carolina System
(2005-04-26) Ukpabi, Chinasa Victor; Robert Serow, Committee Chair; Duane Akroyd, Committee Co-Chair; Dennis Daley, Committee Member; Troy Chen, Committee Member
Institutional effectiveness has become an issue in American Higher Education as governing bodies now require evidence of quality in accountability and funding issues. One measure widely used today to assess effectiveness is retention rate. In response to the above as well as to demographic changes, increasing costs, and the intense competition for new students, educational institutions are seeking new methods to increase the retention rate of their institutions. Most research on retention focused on individual student- level variables, which only predict persistence. There is an obvious need to understand the impact of some uncontrollable external influences on retention rates. In light of the importance that retention rate has assumed, this study sought to develop a predictive model of retention rate in the 16-campus University of North Carolina System. In an effort to develop a comprehensive model, this study employed selected institution-level variables. The study will fill a void, as the UNC system does not currently have a general statistical model for predicting retention rates in its multi-campus system. The central research question for the study is whether an institution's retention rate is a function of the demographic characteristics, economic conditions, college management, and fiscal policy of the state in which the institution resides? Pooled cross-sectional time series technique was employed and the method of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) was used in the estimation of the regression equation. Data was pooled for ten years to provide greater number of data points to overcome a potential degree of freedom problem that would arise studying only 15 institutions. Four themes emerged from the analysis: headcount enrollment, amount of education and general expenditure on instruction and academic support, the county population where institution is located and the rate of unemployment in the county, are significant predictors of retention rate for an institution. Future research including developing prediction models for minority institutions and employing only external variables will perhaps provide additional insights in our understanding of retention rate behavior.
Judicial Performance Evaluation: Policy Diffusion Across the American States
(2008-12-03) Paynter, Sharon Renee; Richard C. Kearney, Committee Chair; Maureen Berner, Committee Member; Dennis Daley, Committee Member; G. David Garson, Committee Member
Tensions between independence and accountability, two hallmarks of the American judicial branch, create a responsibility, perhaps even an obligation, for officers of the court to perform efficiently, effectively, and to undergo periodic performance review. Creating performance evaluation programs holding courts accountable from both individual and organizational perspectives is challenging. It is difficult to evaluate judges and preserve the critical independence needed to decide cases freely, based only on the law. An innovative program called judicial performance evaluation (JPE) may change that. Despite its promise, the program has only been adopted by twenty states. Why those states? What forces compel actors to pursue JPE programs? The characteristics leading to policy diffusion in the American states are evaluated by considering how and when JPE programs have been adopted by state institutional bodies. The effects of legislative professionalization and method of judicial selection have the greatest impact on increasing the likelihood of the policy adoption. However, despite anecdotal evidence and findings from extant studies in other policy areas, political ideology, and geographic proximity are variables not significantly related to JPE diffusion. This study blends extant literature from social science including work from scholars of public administration, public policy, judicial administration, and court reform. The initial contribution of this dissertation is to help researchers understand why JPE may appeal to some states and not others. However, its primary purpose is to shed light on the intersection of these fields and to study policy diffusion using event history analysis. This study re-opens the door for court administration and reform literature to join mainstream public administration studies.