Showing papers by "DePaul University published in 2003"

A Qualitative Investigation of Perceived Executive Ethical Leadership: Perceptions from Inside and Outside the Executive Suite

Abstract: Senior executives are thought to provide the organization’s ethical ‘tone at the top’. We conducted an inductive interview-based study aimed at defining the perceived content domain of executive ethical leadership. We interviewed two types of key informants - corporate ethics officers and senior executives - about executive ethical leadership and then a contrasting category we labeled ‘ethically neutral’ leadership. Systematic analysis of the data identified multiple dimensions of ethical and ethically neutral leadership. The findings suggest that ethical leadership is more than traits such as integrity and more than values-based inspirational leadership. It includes an overlooked transactional component that involves using communication and the reward system to guide ethical behavior. Similarities and differences between ethics officers’ and senior executives’ perceptions also led to insights about the importance of vantage point and social salience in perceptions of executive ethical leadership. In orde...

Stressors and Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Moving From Markers to Mechanisms of Risk

Abstract: In the first half of this review, the authors critically evaluate existing research on the association between stressors and symptoms of psychopathology in children and adolescents. This analysis reveals (a) problems with conceptualizations of stress, (b) variability in measurement of stressors, and (c) lack of theory-driven research. To address these problems, the authors propose a general conceptual model of the relation between stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology. The authors examine basic tenets of this general model in the second half of this article by testing a specific model in which negative parenting mediates the relation between economic stressors and psychological symptoms in young people. Results generally provide support for the specific model as well as for the broader model.

Organizational Absorptive Capacity and Responsiveness: An Empirical Investigation of Growth‐Oriented SMEs

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between firm absorptive capacity and organizational responsiveness in the context of growth–oriented small and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs). By testing the d...

Identification of ambiguities in the 1994 chronic fatigue syndrome research case definition and recommendations for resolution.

Abstract: Background Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is defined by symptoms and disability, has no confirmatory physical signs or characteristic laboratory abnormalities, and the etiology and pathophysiology remain unknown. Difficulties with accurate case ascertainment contribute to this ignorance.

Self, Society, and the “New Gerontology”

Abstract: The "new gerontology," built on the concept of successful aging, sets forth the preconditions for and the end product of the process of aging successfully. Focused on health and active participation in life, it vests largely within individuals the power to achieve this normatively desirable state. While acknowledging the contributions of the scientific base for Rowe and Kahn's successful aging model, we emphasize the need for a more careful examination of the model itself. Using critical gerontology as a primary filter, we critique this normative vision by focusing on its unarticulated (and perhaps unexplored) values, assumptions, and consequences. We argue that these unexamined features may further harm older people, particularly older women, the poor, and people of color who are already marginalized. We conclude by suggesting forms of resistance to this univocal standard.

Stress and psychopathology in children and adolescents: is there evidence of specificity?

Abstract: Research on the relations between specific stressors and specific psychological outcomes among children and adolescents is reviewed. Specificity, the notion that particular risk factors are uniquely related to particular outcomes is discussed from a theoretical perspective, and models of specificity are described. Several domains of stressors are examined from a specificity framework (e.g., exposure to violence, abuse, and divorce/marital conflict) in relation to broad-band outcomes of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Studies that tested for specificity conducted within the past 15 years are examined, and definitional problems are highlighted. Little evidence for specificity was found. Methodological problems in the literature and the lack of theory-driven specificity research are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

Event-based traceability for managing evolutionary change

Abstract: Although the benefits of requirements traceability are widely recognized, the actual practice of maintaining a traceability scheme is not always entirely successful. The traceability infrastructure underlying a software system tends to erode over its lifetime, as time-pressured practitioners fail to consistently maintain links and update impacted artifacts each time a change occurs, even with the support of automated systems. This paper proposes a new method of traceability based upon event-notification and is applicable even in a heterogeneous and globally distributed development environment. Traceable artifacts are no longer tightly coupled but are linked through an event service, which creates an environment in which change is handled more efficiently, and artifacts and their related links are maintained in a restorable state. The method also supports enhanced project management for the process of updating and maintaining the system artifacts.

Oppression and Discrimination among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Communities: A Challenge for Community Psychology

Abstract: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people continue to experience various forms of oppression and discrimination in North America and throughout the world, despite the social, legal, and political advances that have been launched in an attempt to grant LGBT people basic human rights Even though LGBT people and communities have been actively engaged in community organizing and social action efforts since the early twentieth century, research on LGBT issues has been, for the most part, conspicuously absent within the very field of psychology that is explicitly focused on community research and action–Community Psychology The psychological and social impact of oppression, rejection, discrimination, harassment, and violence on LGBT people is reviewed, and recent advances in the areas of LGBT health, public policy, and research are detailed Recent advances within the field of Community Psychology with regard to LGBT research and action are highlighted, and a call to action is offered to integrate the knowledge and skills within LGBT communities with Community Psychology's models of intervention, prevention, and social change in order to build better theory and intervention for LGBT people and communities

Analysis of factors influencing length of stay in the emergency department.

Abstract: Objectives Length of stay (LOS) is a key measure of emergency department (ED) throughput and a marker of overcrowding. Time studies that assess key ED processes will help clarify the causes of patient care delays and prolonged LOS. The objectives of this study were to identify and quantify the principal ED patient care time intervals, and to measure the impact of important service processes (laboratory testing, imaging and consultation) on LOS for patients in different triage levels. Methods In this retrospective review, conducted at a large urban tertiary care teaching hospital and trauma centre, investigators reviewed the records of 1047 consecutive patients treated during a continuous 7-day period in January 1999. Key data were recorded, including patient characteristics, ED process times, tests performed, consultations and overall ED LOS. Of the 1047 patient records, 153 (14.6%) were excluded from detailed analysis because of incomplete documentation. Process times were determined and stratified by triage level, using the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine which factors were most strongly associated with prolonged LOS. Results Patients in intermediate triage Levels III and IV generally had the longest waiting times to nurse and physician assessment, and the longest ED lengths of stay. CTAS triage levels predicted laboratory and imaging utilization as well as consultation rate. The use of diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests was associated with longer LOS, varying with the specific tests ordered. Specialty consultation was also associated with prolonged LOS, and this effect was highly variable depending on the service consulted. Conclusions Triage level, investigations and consultations are important independent variables that influence ED LOS. Future research is necessary to determine how these and other factors can be incorporated into a model for predicting LOS. Improved information systems will facilitate similar ED time studies to assess key processes, lengths of stay and clinical efficiency.

Firewall Policy Advisor for anomaly discovery and rule editing

Abstract: Firewalls are core elements in network security. However, managing firewall rules, especially for enterprize networks, has become complex and error-prone. Firewall filtering rules have to be carefully written and organized in order to correctly implement the security policy. In addition, inserting or modifying a filtering rule requires thorough analysis of the relationship between this rule and other rules in order to determine the proper order of this rule and commit the updates. In this paper, we present a set of techniques and algorithms that provide (1) automatic discovery of firewall policy anomalies to reveal rule conflicts and potential problems in legacy firewalls, and (2) anomaly-free policy editing for rule insertion, removal and modification. This is implemented in a user-friendly tool called "Firewall Policy Advisor". The Firewall Policy Advisor significantly simplifies the management of any generic firewall policy written as filtering rules, while minimizing network vulnerability due to firewall rule misconfiguration.

Risk Factors, Protective Factors, Vulnerability, and Resilience A Framework for Understanding and Supporting the Adult Transitions of Youth with High-Incidence Disabilities

Abstract: Findings from numerous investigations of youth with high-incidence disabilities have indicated that these youth have poorer adult outcomes than do their peers without disabilities. Despite the consistency with which these findings have been observed, little is known about the specific factors that contribute to these poor outcomes, and even less is known about factors and processes that might improve them. Part of this limitation may be related to the lack of an organizing model or framework for thinking about the many factors and processes that can influence the outcomes of youth with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to examine how the related concepts of risk factors, protective factors, and resilience might inform our understanding of the postschool outcomes of youth with disabilities. These constructs are reviewed and their application to research focused on understanding and supporting the adult transitions of youth with high-incidence disabilities is explored. Based on this review, sever...

Authenticity by typing for security protocols

Abstract: We propose a new method to check authenticity properties of cryptographic protocols. First, code up the protocol in the spi-calculus of Abadi and Gordon. Second, specify authenticity properties by annotating the code with correspondence assertions in the style of Woo and Lam. Third, figure out types for the keys, nonces, and messages of the protocol. Fourth, check that the spi-calculus code is well-typed according to a novel type and effect system presented in this paper. Our main theorem guarantees that any well-typed protocol is robustly safe, that is, its correspondence assertions are true in the presence of any opponent expressible in spi. It is feasible to apply this method by hand to several well-known cryptographic protocols. It requires little human effort per protocol, puts no bound on the size of the opponent, and requires no state space enumeration. Moreover, the types for protocol data provide some intuitive explanation of how the protocol works. This paper describes our method and gives some simple examples. Our method has led us to the independent rediscovery of flaws in existing protocols and to the design of improved protocols.

Clinical reasoning in experienced nurses.

Abstract: As an essential component of nursing practice, clinical reasoning is used to assimilate information, analyze data, and make decisions regarding patient care. Little is known about the reasoning strategies of experienced nurses who are not yet experts. This qualitative descriptive study explored the cognitive strategies used by experienced nurses as they considered assessment findings of assigned patients. To date, few studies of nurses' clinical reasoning have been conducted in a practice setting during actual patient care. A small group research design was employed using the think-aloud (TA) method with protocol analysis. A total of 15 experienced nurses were asked to "think aloud" about patient assessment findings. Data were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the three steps of protocol analysis. The results suggest that experienced nurses used a conceptual language to reason about assessment findings and used heuristics to reason more quickly and efficiently.

Toward an Integrative Framework for Online Consumer Behavior Research: A Meta-Analysis Approach

Abstract: The recent failure of a large number of e-tail companies epitomizes the challenges of operating through virtual channels and underscores the need to better understand key drivers of online consumer behavior. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the extant information systems (IS) literature related to online consumer behavior and integrate the literature in order to enhance our knowledge of consumer behavior in electronic markets and provide clear directions for future research. This paper introduces a framework that integrates research findings across studies to develop a coherent and comprehensive picture of the online consumer behavior research conducted in the IS field. The integrative framework proposes system quality, information quality, service quality, and vendor and channel characteristics as key factors that impact online consumer behavior, achieving their effects by altering the perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, trust, and shopping enjoyment.

The Role of Logic in Teaching Proof

Abstract: (2003). The Role of Logic in Teaching Proof. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 110, No. 10, pp. 886-899.

Psychological distress for African-American adolescent males: exposure to community violence and social support as factors.

Abstract: This study examined exposure to community violence and depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms within a non-random sample of low-income, African-American male adolescents. The moderating effect of social support on these relationships was also examined. Seventy-seven African-American adolescent males were recruited from an inner-city, Midwestern high school and surveyed on exposure to violence, depression, post-traumatic stress, and social support. Regression analyses revealed that exposure to violence was significantly associated with both depressive and PTSD symptoms. However, social support was not found to moderate the relationship between exposure to community violence and psychological distress. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Explaining the decline in women's household labor: Individual change and cohort differences

Abstract: Women's hours of housework have declined, but does this change represent shifts in the behavior of individuals or differences across cohorts? Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys, individual and cohort change in housework are examined over a 13-year period. Responsibility for household tasks declined 10% from 1974-75 to 1987-88. For individual women, changes in housework are associated with life course shifts in time availability as well as with changes in gender attitudes and marital status, but are not related to changes in relative earnings. Cohort differences exist in responsibility for housework in the mid-1970s and they persist over the 13-year period. Overall, these findings suggest that aggregate changes in women's household labor reflect both individual change and cohort differences. Key Words: housework, life cycle, social change, women. Women's and men's family roles have undergone enormous change over the last several decades. The traditional nuclear family, composed of a mother-homemaker and a father-provider, is a reality for only a fraction of today's families (Spain & Bianchi, 1996; Sweet & Bumpass, 1987). This change is reflected in the increasing rate of women, particularly mothers, in the paid labor force (Costello & Stone, 1994; Rexroat, 1992; Rindfuss, Brewster, & Kavee, 1996). Commensurate with this shift in family and work patterns, many early scholars expected a parallel drop in women's household labor and a move to a more equitable division of labor both within and outside the household. Indeed, several trend studies using time diary data describe significant drops in women's household labor between the 1960s and the 1990s, and slight increases in men's household labor (Bianchi, Milkie, Sayer, & Robinson, 2000; Gershuny & Robinson, 1988; Robinson & Godbey, 1997), but change has been slow, and women continue to shoulder much greater responsibility for household labor (Shelton & John, 1996). Although recent trend studies of housework suggest there has been a change in the average level of housework done by women (Bianchi et al., 2000; Gershuny & Robinson, 1988; Robinson & Godbey, 1997), it remains unclear how much of that change reflects behavioral changes made by individual women and how much it reflects differences across successive cohorts. At one extreme, if housework behaviors, and the gender relations that underlie them, remained perfectly stable for individuals throughout adulthood, differences in housework behavior across successive cohorts of men and women could still result in change. If cohorts begin adulthood with different behaviors, change will occur as newer cohorts replace the old (Firebaugh & Davis, 1988; Ryder, 1965). At the other extreme, change could also occur if individuals alter their housework behaviors throughout adulthood, regardless of whether cohort behaviors differed when they entered adulthood. Understanding both types of change is important because it helps us better understand the processes generating these changes and provides greater insight into the potential for future change. Cohort differences, particularly if behaviors are shaped early in the life course and then stabilize in adulthood, are an important source of long-term, stable transformation of behaviors or attitudes (Brewster & Padavic, 2000; Firebaugh & Davis, 1988). In contrast, evidence of behavioral change throughout adulthood suggests behaviors that are more malleable. Patterns of change in housework behavior also provide clues about the stability of these behaviors, the gender relations that underlie them, and which other life changes are most closely associated with adjustments in housework behavior. In this article, we use two comparable, nationally representative samples of American women drawn from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature and Young Women. These two data sets allow us to examine change in housework behavior from the mid-1970s to late 1980s (13 years) for five 5-year cohorts of U. …

Extending our understanding of burnout: test of an integrated model in nonservice occupations.

Abstract: C. L. Cordes and T. M. Dougherty (1993) provided a conceptual framework of job burnout in nonservice organizations. This study sought to determine the "fit" of that theoretical model within nonservice occupations. LISREL VIII was used to test this model on 165 participants, and the overall model fit the data well. Supervisory support moderated the relationships between the role conflict, role ambiguity, and quantitative role overload stressors and emotional exhaustion and between emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Unexpectedly, role conflict, role ambiguity, and quantitative role overload had a positive impact on emotional exhaustion when supervisory support was high. As expected, participation had a negative association with depersonalization. Employees experiencing emotional exhaustion were more likely to feel nervous or tense at work.

Initiative, Incentives and Soft Information: How Does Delegation Impact The Role of Bank Relationship Managers?

Abstract: This paper empirically examines how changes in the hierarchical structure of a large organization can affect incentives. The empirical analysis exploits a change in the hierarchical structure of the Corporate Division of a private foreign commercial bank in Argentina between 1999 and 2001. Using detailed hand collected data on credit approvals, as well as perceived effort measures for each relationship manager from quality surveys done to borrowing firms, I test whether delegation of authority and reduction of oversight improves or decreases the provision of effort by account managers. Results suggest that empowering managers increases the time relationship managers spend with their corporate clients, increases perceived effort and reduces the number of complaints the bank receives from its clients. Alternative explanations and several tests are constructed to examine the different channels through which effort measures could have increased other than the change in organizational structure. I then test whether the improvement is really because managers make better use of their decision making authority rather than they simply waste less time in filing reports to their superiors. I find that individuals who receive more authority use their soft information more compared to individuals to whom authority is only partially delegated. This suggests that delegation of authority increases managerial effort not only because management spends less time reporting to bosses, but also because they recognize that their effort will have greater impact on outcomes. Hence, transmission of, and reliance on, soft information are higher under decentralized than centralized structures. Finally, I test whether the change in structure was meaningful and productive from the bank's financial perspective. I find that cross-selling measures and bank's financial ratios increased after the organizational change.

Forms of resistance: Foucault on tactical reversal and self-formation

Abstract: This paper argues that two distinct models of resistance are to be found in Foucault's work. The first, “tactical reversal,” is predicated on the idea that conflict is inherent to power relations, the strategical model of power, and thus that a specific configuration of power and knowledge can be thwarted by reversing the mechanisms whereby this relation is sustained. The second, the “aesthetics of existence,” is based in the governmental model of power and holds that it is possible to forge autonomous forms of life in and through such techniques of governance. I argue that Foucault came to favor the latter of these two alternatives because the model of power underlying resistance as tactical reversal proved insufficient both historically and conceptually. It was thus on this basis that he was able to work out the governmental conception of power relations and thereby accord a fundamental role to the concept of resistance as autonomy or self-formation. The key to understanding how this project is not only practical, but is also our obligation lies in the “genealogy of the critical attitude” that Foucault was developing in his final years.

A Hybrid Web Personalization Model Based on Site Connectivity

Abstract: Web usage mining has been used effectively as an underlying mechanism for Web personalization and recommender systems. A variety of recommendation frameworks have been proposed, including some based on non-sequential models, such as association rules and clusters, and some based on sequential models, such as sequential or navigational patterns. Our recent studies have suggested that the structural characteristics of Web sites, such as the site topology and the degree of connectivity, have a significant impact on the relative performance of recommendation models based on association rules, contiguous and non-contiguous sequential patterns. In this paper, we present a framework for a hybrid Web personalization system that can intelligently switch among different recommendation models, based on the degree of connectivity and the current location of the user within the site. We have conducted a detailed evaluation based on real Web usage data from three sites with different structural characteristics. Our results show that the hybrid system selects less constrained models such as frequent itemsets when the user is navigating portions of the site with a higher degree of connectivity, while sequential recommendation models are chosen for deeper navigational depths and lower degrees of connectivity. The comparative evaluation also indicates that the overall performance of hybrid system in terms of precision and coverage is better than the recommendation systems based on any of the individual models.

Rethinking The Globalization Of Domestic Service Foreign Domestics, State Control, and the Politics of Identity in Taiwan

Abstract: This article examines the configuration of domestic service within local milieus under globalization. Using Taiwan as a case study, the author argues that the state continues to have an impact even in this age of global interdependence. The management of foreign domestics within employers’ households is not only important for labor control but also central to the state’s administration over alien subjects. The case of Taiwan calls attention to the necessity of bringing the state back into the analysis of gender and carework.

Violence Prevention: An Evaluation of Program Effects with Urban African American Students

Abstract: While many violence prevention programs have been developed to combat the problems of violence and aggression among youth, few programs have been evaluated. This study examines the impact of a violence prevention program among African American students in two inner-city schools in Chicago. Students in 5th through 8th grade participated in Second Step: A Violence Prevention Program, and completed surveys at pretest and posttest. Aggressive behavior and prosocial behavior were assessed through self-report, peer-report, and teacher-report. In addition, knowledge and skills related to violence, empathy, impulsivity, and sense of school membership were assessed. The findings revealed significant increases in self-reported knowledge and skills, self-reported empathy, and teacher-reported prosocial behavior. Increases in empathy significantly predicted less aggressive behavior. School setting influenced several outcomes, including sense of school membership. Implications for primary prevention and evaluation are discussed with a focus on the importance of context.

Gis and Spatial Knowledge Production for Neighborhood Revitalization: Negotiating State Priorities and Neighborhood Visions

Abstract: In this article, we examine the role of geographic information systems used by neighborhood organizations in their planning and revitalization efforts in US inner cities. The use of GIS is related ...

Approximating labelled Markov processes

Abstract: Labelled Markov processes are probabilistic versions of labelled transition systems. In general, the state space of a labelled Markov process may be a continuum. In this paper, we study approximation techniques for continuousstate labelled Markov processes.We show that the collection of labelled Markov processes carries a Polish-space structure with a countable basis given by finite-state Markov chains with rational probabilities: thus permitting the approximation of quantitative observations (e.g., an integral of a continuous function) of a continuous-state labelled Markov process by the observations on finite-state Markov chains. The primary technical tools that we develop to reach these results are • A variant of a finite-model theorem for the modal logic used to characterize bisimulation, and • an isomorphism between the poset of Markov processes (ordered by simulation) with the ω-continuous dcpo Proc (defined as the solution of the recursive domain equation Proc = ΠL PPr(Proc)). The isomorphism between labelled Markov processes and Proc can be independently viewed as a full-abstraction result relating an operational (labelled Markov process) and a denotational (Proc) model and yields a logic complete for reasoning about simulation for continuous-state processes.

Going Beyond the Problem Given: How Human Tutors Use Post-Solution Discussions to Support Transfer

Abstract: Two studies investigated the role and effectiveness of post-solution, reflective dialogues in physics tutorials. The first study investigated the instructional roles of post-solution discussions, their relationship to problem-solving discussions, and features that predict learning. Seven tutors individually guided 15 students as they worked on problems in the Andes physics tutoring system. Tutors adapted the post-solution discussions to students? ability levels and their performance on the current problem. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts revealed several roles of the post-solution dialogues - most prominently, explaining conceptual knowledge and integrating this knowledge with strategic, problem-solving knowledge. The number of post-solution discussions students had with their tutor, the number of discussions that abstracted from the current problem, and the number of tutor-initiated discussions predicted transfer, as measured by pre-test to post-test gain score on problems similar to those solved in Andes. Several tutorial strategies that are distributed between problem solving and post-solution reflection were identified. A framework for describing distributed plans for reflection is proposed based on these analyses. The second study investigated whether reflection questions such as those asked by the tutors in the first study lead to better conceptual understanding and problem-solving ability, as measured by overall gain scores and gain scores on conceptual and quantitative questions. It also examined whether human tutor-provided feedback on students?responses - with its often multi-exchange, dialectic character - is more effective than a single, canned explanation. Forty-six students solved problems in Andes in one of three conditions: with no reflection questions after problem solving, with reflection questions discussed with human tutors, or with the same reflection questions followed by canned feedback (without a human tutor). Students learned more with reflection questions and feedback than without, but the canned feedback and human tutored conditions did not differ significantly. Hence, overall, these studies support the practice of implementing post-solution reflective activities in intelligent tutoring systems, but call into question the need for natural-language processing techniques to support these activities.

The relation of retail tobacco availability to initiation and continued smoking.

Abstract: Used an ecological analysis employing multilevel random-effects regression analyses to model Level 1 (individual and social) and Level 2 (environmental) correlates of smoking initiation and continued smoking among 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students. Data from 5,234 youth in 11 Midwestern communities were examined. Results indicate higher levels of retail tobacco availability (RTA) were associated with increased odds that a youth initiated smoking but not continued smoking. Among the Level 1 factors, youth who were older, male, had an adult tobacco user in the home, and had more peers who use tobacco had increased odds of initiating smoking. In contrast, only the presence of an adult tobacco user in the home and the number of peers who use tobacco were associated with increased odds that a youth continued smoking. Examining individual, social, and environmental factors simultaneously provides a clearer and more accurate model of these complex ecological influences.