Browsing by Subject "Attribution"
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Item An application of attribution theory in persons' willingness and obligation to disclose HIV-positive status to family members(Texas Tech University, 1996-05) Kimberly, Judy A.The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to be one of this country's most severe health issues for both those infected with the disease and those affected by the disease. Utilizing attribution theory as a framework, this analogue study examined factors associated with the HIV-positive individual and his/her relationship with specific family members that may be associated with the willingness and obligation to disclose an HIV-positive diagnosis. Results indicated that for the 585 men and women of this study, the gender of the actor, the mode by which the actor contracted HTV, and the gender of the participant were all significantly related to the willingness and obligation of the actor to disclose his/her diagnosis to family members. Interestingly, symptomology was not significantly related to disclosure. Each of the five relationship variables (closeness, past response, attitude, health, and financial assistance) were also statisticaUy significantly related to disclosure. Limitations and future research directions are also presented.Item Consumers' response to negative information about a celebrity endorser(2011-08) Um, Nam-Hyun; Lee, Wei-Na, 1957-; Stout, Patricia; Drumwright, Minette; Williams, Jerome; Emmer, EdmundThe study seeks to discover whether different cultural orientations will result in individuals making dispositional attribution or situational attribution regarding negative information about a celebrity endorser. Second, the study seeks to discover whether consumers in different cultures evaluate different types of negative celebrity information differently. Third, the study seeks to discover whether dispositional or situational attribution of the negative information about the celebrity endorser will produce different evaluations of the endorser and, subsequently, of the endorsed brand. Finally, the study seeks to discover whether the level of consumers’ identification with celebrities (low vs. high) will moderate the relationship between attribution and consequences. The study found that cultural orientation affects people’s attributional styles and dispositional attribution leads to more negative impacts on celebrity evaluation, brand evaluation, and purchase intention than situational attribution. It is found that Korean consumers reacted more negatively on other-oriented negative information than on self-oriented negative orientation. People with a low level of identification responded more negatively to the negative celebrity information than people with a high level of identification. Implications and suggestions for future research in this area are provided.Item Development of Technical Nuclear Forensics for Spent Research Reactor Fuel(2012-11-20) Sternat, Matthew Ryan 1982-Pre-detonation technical nuclear forensics techniques for research reactor spent fuel were developed in a collaborative project with Savannah River National Lab ratory. An inverse analysis method was employed to reconstruct reactor parameters from a spent fuel sample using results from a radiochemical analysis. In the inverse analysis, a reactor physics code is used as a forward model. Verification and validation of different reactor physics codes was performed for usage in the inverse analysis. The verification and validation process consisted of two parts. The first is a variance analysis of Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup simulation results. The codes used in this work are MONTEBURNS and MCNPX/CINDER. Both utilize Monte Carlo transport calculations for reaction rate and flux results. Neither code has a variance analysis that will propagate through depletion steps, so a method to quantify and understand the variance propagation through these depletion calculations was developed. The second verification and validation process consisted of comparing reactor physics code output isotopic compositions to radiochemical analysis results. A sample from an Oak Ridge Research Reactor spent fuel assembly was acquired through a drilling process. This sample was then dissolved in nitric acid and diluted in three different quantities, creating three separate samples. A radiochemical analysis was completed and the results were compared to simulation outputs at different levels ofdetail. After establishing a forward model, an inverse analysis was developed to re-construct the burnup, initial uranium isotopic compositions, and cooling time of a research reactor spent fuel sample. A convergence acceleration technique was used that consisted of an analytical calculation to predict burnup, initial 235U, and 236U enrichments. The analytic calculation results may also be used stand alone or in a database search algorithm. In this work, a reactor physics code is used as a for- ward model with the analytic results as initial conditions in a numerical optimization algorithm. In the numerical analysis, the burnup and initial uranium isotopic com- positions are reconstructed until the iterative spent fuel characteristics converge with the measured data. Upon convergence of the sample?s burnup and initial uranium isotopic composition, the cooling time can be reconstructed. To reconstruct cooling time, the standard decay equation is inverted and solved for time. Two methods were developed. One method uses the converged burnup and initial uranium isotopic compositions along in a reactor depletion simulation. The second method uses an isotopic signature that does not decay out of its mass bin and has a simple production chain. An example would be 137Cs which decays into the stable 137Ba. Similar results are achieved with both methods, but extended shutdown time or time away from power results in over prediction of the cooling time. The over prediction of cooling time and comparison of different burnup reconstruction isotope results are indicator signatures of extended shutdown or time away from power. Due to dynamic operation in time and function, detailed power history reconstruction for research reactors is very challenging. Frequent variations in power, repeated variable shutdown time length, and experimentation history affect the spectrum an individual assembly is burned with such that full reactor parameter reconstruction is difficult. The results from this technical nuclear forensic analysis may be used with law enforcement, intelligence data, macroscopic and microscopic sample characteristics in a process called attribution to suggest or exclude possible sources of origin for a sample.Item Money attitudes, economic locus of control, and financial strain among college students(Texas Tech University, 2006-08) Hayes, John V.; Bagwell, Dorothy C.; Olivarez, Arturo; Gustafson, Bill; Joo, So-Hyun; Shumway, Sterling T.The relationship between attitudes and behavior has been studied extensively, yet research on money attitudes, perceptions of economic locus of control, and financial strain among college students is less abundant. Toward a better understanding of college student�s attitudes and perceptions about money, an investigation of student money attitudes and perceptions of economic locus of control is advanced. Research favors the validity of Furnham�s assertion that money attitudes are clearly not one-dimensional, and encompass a multitude of dimensions. Assessing these attitudes yields clearly defined constructs that may be influenced through additional stimuli. Numerous studies support the contention that money attitudes are learned dispositions, initially developed through parental teachings and observation of family money practices, later refined through socialization and experience. Thus it might be considered that money behavior change may be best accomplished through money attitude change, the latter accomplished by additional focused stimuli. Results of this study indicate significant differences in attitudes and perceptions of control over money matters between female and male college students, differences in the perceptions of influence over money matters between students from the Mexican American, Latino / Latina cultures and students from the Anglo American cultures, and differences in attitudes and practices between freshman students and upper class students. This analysis suggests female students tended to feel less personal control over positive outcomes compared to male students, yet perceived uncontrollable chance as less influential on their financial circumstances. Female students indicated less difficulty in meeting current obligations than did male students, while placing less importance on planning for future financial circumstances. Female students feel higher levels of anxiety over financial issues, have lower scores in financial literacy, and use money to impress or influence others less than male students. This analysis found that freshman students from the Mexican American and Latino / Latina cultures felt a significantly higher influence over their financial situation from Powerful Others; this influence increasing as the student advanced through class levels. The analysis also indicates junior and senior level students spend significantly higher amounts of time working (including work study), and have a much higher probability of reducing class load or withdrawing from class due to financial constraints. Implications of the study and recommendations for further research are discussed.Item Money attitudes, economic locus of control, and financial strain among college students(2006-08) Hayes, John V.; Bagwell, Dorothy C.; Olivarez, Arturo; Joo, So-Hyun; Gustafson, Bill; Shumway, Sterling T.The relationship between attitudes and behavior has been studied extensively, yet research on money attitudes, perceptions of economic locus of control, and financial strain among college students is less abundant. Toward a better understanding of college student’s attitudes and perceptions about money, an investigation of student money attitudes and perceptions of economic locus of control is advanced. Research favors the validity of Furnham’s assertion that money attitudes are clearly not one-dimensional, and encompass a multitude of dimensions. Assessing these attitudes yields clearly defined constructs that may be influenced through additional stimuli. Numerous studies support the contention that money attitudes are learned dispositions, initially developed through parental teachings and observation of family money practices, later refined through socialization and experience. Thus it might be considered that money behavior change may be best accomplished through money attitude change, the latter accomplished by additional focused stimuli. Results of this study indicate significant differences in attitudes and perceptions of control over money matters between female and male college students, differences in the perceptions of influence over money matters between students from the Mexican American, Latino / Latina cultures and students from the Anglo American cultures, and differences in attitudes and practices between freshman students and upper class students. This analysis suggests female students tended to feel less personal control over positive outcomes compared to male students, yet perceived uncontrollable chance as less influential on their financial circumstances. Female students indicated less difficulty in meeting current obligations than did male students, while placing less importance on planning for future financial circumstances. Female students feel higher levels of anxiety over financial issues, have lower scores in financial literacy, and use money to impress or influence others less than male students. This analysis found that freshman students from the Mexican American and Latino / Latina cultures felt a significantly higher influence over their financial situation from Powerful Others; this influence increasing as the student advanced through class levels. The analysis also indicates junior and senior level students spend significantly higher amounts of time working (including work study), and have a much higher probability of reducing class load or withdrawing from class due to financial constraints. Implications of the study and recommendations for further research are discussed.Item Nuclear forensics: attributing the source of spent fuel used in an RDD event(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Scott, Mark RobertAn RDD attack against the U.S. is something America needs to prepare against. If such an event occurs the ability to quickly identify the source of the radiological material used in an RDD would aid investigators in identifying the perpetrators. Spent fuel is one of the most dangerous possible radiological sources for an RDD. In this work, a forensics methodology was developed and implemented to attribute spent fuel to a source reactor. The specific attributes determined are the spent fuel burnup, age from discharge, reactor type, and initial fuel enrichment. It is shown that by analyzing the post-event material, these attributes can be determined with enough accuracy to be useful for investigators. The burnup can be found within a 5% accuracy, enrichment with a 2% accuracy, and age with a 10% accuracy. Reactor type can be determined if specific nuclides are measured. The methodology developed was implemented into a code call NEMASYS. NEMASYS is easy to use and it takes a minimum amount of time to learn its basic functions. It will process data within a few minutes and provide detailed information about the results and conclusions.Item Shakespeare's first Hamlet : the 1602 Spanish Tragedy additions(2015-08) Thompson, Maley Holmes; Bruster, Douglas; Loehlin, James; Mallin, Eric; Marcus, Leah; Wojciehowski, HannahWhile scholars have argued that Shakespeare’s Hamlet was modeled after two earlier plays by Thomas Kyd—the so-called Ur-Hamlet and The Spanish Tragedy—this dissertation finds a middle step in this trajectory of influence: the systematic character revision of the role of Hieronimo in the 320 anonymous lines added to the 1602 Spanish Tragedy quarto. The increasingly persuasive arguments for Shakespeare’s hand in these Additions offer an opportunity to explore the implications of this specific emendation, which is represented here as a small-scale exercise for Shakespeare and Richard Burbage to attempt and rehearse more modern, philosophical personations of grief and madness before their great undertaking of Hamlet. This dissertation reads the Shakespearean Additions to The Spanish Tragedy alongside Hamlet to trace Shakespeare’s developing style and to demonstrate how the Additions may be seen as Hamlet’s verbal and thematic precursor. In its introduction and six chapters, this project provides several reinterpretations of primary records relevant to Shakespeare’s theatrical career in a roughly chronological narrative of The Spanish Tragedy’s stage history, ultimately viewing the play’s multiple revisions and revivals as a creative point of departure between competitive companies and players.Item Word of mouth vs. expert reviews : compared using need for cognition and social media affinity(2014-05) Lopez, William Jose; Cicchirillo, Vincent J.We live in a world where social media allows everyone to have a voice regardless of their expertise on any subject. With so many anonymous voices giving their opinions are the expert reviews of film critics no longer as useful? Some may believe there is a disconnect between what critics like and what people like. With this in mind, this research puts the usefulness of expert movie reviews and word of mouth against each other as can be seen through the need for cognition scale and social media affinity scale.